Surajit Mazumdar Are ‘freebies’ a good idea? Set up in this way, this question almost instinctively invites an answer in the negative. After all, if everything that we use to satisfy our needs and wants ultimately has to be produced or created through human effort, how can the right to claim these without that effort be accepted as a norm? The underlying issue, however, gets obscured in the process and several implicit assumptions are made that are far from valid. What are typically referred to as ‘freebies’ involve governments providing some facilities or services free of charge, or income (including in kind) support, to those whose income levels are low. The fear often expressed is that this would erode their incentive to strive for and contribute to the productive effort of society. The other side of the story is that since someone has to ultimately pay for these freebies, providing them involves imposing a penalty on those who are creating the wealth and the income of society. There are several problems, however, with this understanding: