in the form of services rather than cash." The disadvantaged will no longer be expected to manage their own lives or take responsibility for their own children. They and their children will become virtual wards of the state, trapped forever in the welfare system. Murray and Herrnstein's prediction has resonance in Australia because many people fear this is exactly where our welfare policy has been heading with measures like the Northern Territory intervention and income management trials. Instead of cash, members of disadvantaged communities are given a BacicsCard that can only be spent on government approved goods. Income support is increasingly tied to compliance with bureaucratic demands. These policies are supported by both major parties so can't easily be characterised as left or right. Fortunately, an obligation free handout or a permanent custodial state are not the only two alternatives for welfare policy. As economist James J Heckman points out, Murray's mistake is to think that there's nothing we can do to improve people's skills and their ability to take control of their own lives. Murray believes that intelligence determines economic success and that this is largely determined by a person's genes. Low IQ people tend to partner with other low IQ people and they tend have low IQ children. His claim that black Americans have a lower average IQ than whites triggered outrage when The Bell Curve was published. The custodial state is one response to this kind of pessimism while Murray's abandonment of mutual obligation is another. What