All governments, since the most primitive tribal societies, redistribute income. Conservative economists like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman favor a basic

All governments, since the most primitive tribal societies, redistribute income. Conservative economists like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman favor a basic income over more specific welfare programs because it could be implemented with a very lean bureaucratic overhead and minimally distort the economy, e.g., the government is not directly providing services, instead people purchase what they need themselves, and the perverse incentive of means-tested welfare programs to avoid earning too much money are avoided.