The biggest expert on one's needs is oneself. Giving a person money and then telling them to invest it wisely is not necessarily the worst idea ever. The risk

The biggest expert on one's needs is oneself. Giving a person money and then telling them to invest it wisely is not necessarily the worst idea ever. The risky part is that you're giving the money to random people; as opposed to smart, promising entrepreneurs. The question becomes what's the risk of free riding & unwise investment, versus indifferent investment, versus people who indeed invest wisely. Personally I think that -in most of the OECD- the average/net risk already lies somewhat on the wise investment side. (slightly out on a limb: else how could the economy grow to begin with?)