Murray (American Enterprise Institute) argues that the welfare state as we know it cannot survive and that change is inevitable. He proposes the elimination of all income transfer programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, and corporate subsidies, at the federal, state and local levels. Instead he would substitute, for all Americans over the age of twenty-one, an annual cash grant of $10,000 for life. Murray argues that such a plan would confer personal accountability and empower people to control their own lives by giving them the resources for a decent standard of living, including money to pay for healthcare and save for retirement. He concludes that regardless of the transition costs, switching to his plan would save the government $1 trillion a year by 2008. Annotation ⓒ2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)