India, Aug. 26 -- Government welfare schemes are certainly not Ponzi, which literally requires new investors' money to pay earlier investors. Governments possess taxation powers and can legitimately borrow against future revenues. But when political commitments made purely for electoral purposes lead to recurring expenditure with insufficient recurring revenues that compel a state to borrow recklessly, the distinction tends to get blurred. Government must provide subsidies to the needy, but when a subsidy becomes an unconditional entitlement with little measurable developmental return, freebies deviate from genuine welfare. They also crowd out growth-enhancing capital expenditure. Without careful targeting, sunset clauses, transparent sub...