As the economics adage goes, there are unlimited wants but limited resources. In any discussion of the Budget, we are constantly reminded of the trade-offs at stake and the values that underpin our social contract as a society. For instance, we may hear that universal social spending would produce unintended negative effects on work incentives or that they are fiscally unsustainable.

These economics-sounding arguments are often accepted without question, much like how we are expected to accept scientific claims produced by scientists.