Bryan Caplan considers Adam Shephard‘s Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream a fascinating self-experiment. From its intro:
I am going to start almost literally from scratch with one 8′ by 10′ tarp, a sleeping bag, an empty gym bag, $25, and the clothes on my back. Via train, I will be dropped at a random place somewhere in the southeastern United States that is not in my home state of North Carolina. I have 365 days to become free of the realities of homelessness and become a “regular” member of society. After one year, for my project to be considered successful, I have to possess an operable automobile, live in a furnished apartment…, have $2500 in cash, and, most importantly, I have to be in a position in which I can continue to improve my circumstances by either going to school or starting my own business.
[...]
On paper, my previous life doesn’t exist for this one year. I cannot use any of my previous contacts, my college education, or my credit history… I cannot beg for money or use services that others are not at liberty to use.
Caplan “couldn’t put the book down until Shephard got on his own two feet,” but he has one big critique of the book:
Shephard’s self-experiment wasn’t really necessary, because illegal immigrants have been proving his point for years. If the American economy didn’t allow unskilled, unconnected people to work their way from abysmal poverty to moderate affluence (known to Americans as “relative poverty”), people wouldn’t risk their lives to come here. So when Shephard ends his book with a call to action to help America’s poor help themselves, it doesn’t ring true.