The iconic conservative libertarian economist Friedrich Hayek wrote, in his seminal free-market text, The Road to Serfdom, “There is no reason why in a society which has reached the general level of wealth which ours has . . . security should not be guaranteed to all . . . there can be no doubt that some minimum of food, shelter, and clothing . . . can be assured to everybody. . . . Nor is there any reason why the state should not assist the individuals in providing for those common hazards of life against which, because of their uncertainty, few individuals can make adequate provision.”
