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Request For Research: Basic Income

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#541

Post by toomanybeersies »

egypturnash wrote: post #341
lisper wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Products that offer serious competition for incumbents in the financial sector to bid down the 7-10% of the economy taken by financial services. The limiting factor here is the regulatory regime, which makes it all but impossible to move money around without using a bank as an intermediary. That gives the banking cartel effective veto power on all new financial services. The key reform here is to separate the movem…

"Access to money transfer as a basic human right" is a brilliant way to reframe the conversation around financial services. I'm gonna start talking about transaction fees from that perspective now. And yeah, good luck extracting the banks from the profit-making niches they've carved out in that process. They will fight that to their last breath.

It seems to be a very American thing to not have banking as a basic right (or at least assumed right).

Here in New Zealand, there's pretty much no restriction on getting bank accounts. It's almost unheard of to not have a bank account.

Transaction fees aren't really a thing either. Most people only have to pay to withdraw money from other banks ATMs. There's no fees for bank transfers (regardless of whether it's to the same bank or a different one). Bank transfers are within the hour in the same bank, and either within the day or overnight for between different banks.

One thing that definitely has helped in this situation (somewhat counter intuitively) is that we have an oligopoly of banks, so standardisation and cooperation is simple. That's why we have chip and pin cards as standard here (and contactless cards). It's also meant that almost everywhere accepts EFTPOS.

Hell, I had to cash my first check ever today. I don't even carry cash, unless I have a specific reason to need to carry it.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#542

Post by silverlake »

Robert Gordon, Econ at Northwestern, has a book out saying national productivity and growth rates will be very low for the foreseeable future. If you believe that, then you can only increase prosperity by redistributing current wealth.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#543

Post by beat »

ryanSrich wrote: post #492
surfmike wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better remote work technologies would certainly help. For now, most tech companies have found that working face to face is really vital.

Perhaps in 1999 this was the case. But technology is no longer a blocker. Often times companies will use this as an excuse instead of just coming out and saying "we prefer asses in seats because it looks good to our bosses".

It's not that simple. I think a combination of remote work and face-to-face is best, actually. But technology alone is not a solution.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#544

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #458
panglott wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but all of those sound like things that are going to help people who were already going to be successful to be even more successful. College debt, for example, is a problem for those who were successful enough to get into college into the first place, and who, simply by getting into college, are already increasing their lifetime earnings by millions of dollars. Technological services for K-12 ed is pushing a s…

I'm not a big believer in minimizing college debt. I'm a believer in minimizing college . People who grow up in wealthy families naturally find themselves on a college track that seamlessly routes them to elite schools when they're 18 years old. People who grow up in poverty aren't on that track and might not even have much agency (due to their circumstances, requirements to work young, entanglements with the law) un…

[deleted]

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#545

Post by tyre »

ryanSrich wrote: post #492
surfmike wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better remote work technologies would certainly help. For now, most tech companies have found that working face to face is really vital.

Perhaps in 1999 this was the case. But technology is no longer a blocker. Often times companies will use this as an excuse instead of just coming out and saying "we prefer asses in seats because it looks good to our bosses".

It's absolutely still a blocker. Remote employment is not the same as meeting face to face with someone. Trust is easier to build in person.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#546

Post by bradleyjg »

lxmorj wrote: post #306
PabloOsinaga wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if we are thinking about the housing cost problem properly. I live in NYC and there are a lot of affordable options. That's certainly not the case about the most desirable locations. But ipso facto those locations will continue going up in price. Perhaps the problem is not so much about housing cost but transportation and access to services (eg uber, doordash), which seem to be advancing and making a lot of…

I think it's absurd that there are millions of kitchens in NYC. There is a project in my old town - Syracuse - that I think has a lot of benefits: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/11/coliving... It's kind of a modern take on boarding houses. Actually, I think that the optimal situation is much closer to a boarding house. Take 10-15 units, remove the kitchen and laundry entirely. Use the savings to pay…

I mostly eat professionally prepared food for breakfast and dinner but make my own lunch. I've seen plenty of claims that it saves money to cook, but as a single person every time I actually go to make something it ends up costing a bunch. Maybe if I perfectly planned meals so that every ingredients was used in many dishes across a week, or if I were willing to eat the same thing reheated 3 or 4 days in a row, but otherwise I don't see it. Taste-wise the professionals beat me hands down. The only area where homemade wins is health-wise.

The math may well work out differently for a family of four.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#547

Post by lukasm »

lukasm wrote: post #526
fijal wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

College in Poland is free and there are options for very limited stipends which can sustain you (albeit on a poverty level). That did lift me from a poor, but educated, family into the world of computer software and a relatively successful career it seems. As it did for countless of my peers. Please don't discount free education as "not changing much", in the US I would be probably working at Mc Donalds or dealing cr…

There are problems with free Uni in Poland - people studying for 10 years just to extend the childhood. (government pay 15k a year to the uni) - some Unis accept people just to get money off of the government (accepted 500, graduate 100) - lack of quality due to poor funding Uni should not be free, but cheap. (50% of yearly median salary)

@mietek I have no problem if they pay for everything. Tax payers are paying 100%.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#549

Post by mikeg8 »

sama wrote: post #103
reledi wrote: post #77

What's in it for YC?

YCR is a non-profit; we just think this is important and interesting. Though if it does turn out, years down the road, that basic income happens, I suspect we'd get more people starting companies and that would obviously be good for YC.

> we just think this is important and interesting.

Not trying to kiss ass here but it's this type of thinking that sets YC well above the rest, IMO.

Re: Request For Research: Basic Income

#550

Post by elif »

hourislate wrote: post #452
stcredzero wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equally credible alternatives to university education for professions that don't involve students shouldering $100k-$200k in debt based on decisions they have to make when they're 18 years old. Why not just free university education for people who have the prerequisite academic qualifications?

This word "Free" amuses me. I am curious why you think that something can be offered for free with no payment associated with it? Will the Professors work for free? Who will pay the electricity bill to heat or cool the buildings? What about the course material? Free? There is no such thing. Someone will always end up paying for it.

Well, if you want to get abstract, the money itself is "free," printed by the Fed almost arbitrarily. By any number of mechanisms that money ends up primarily concentrated in one group of very wealthy people.

You can divert that "free" money and have "free" things for the middle class. That the wealthy would then be "paying" for it is a philosophical perspective that presupposes the status quo for wealth distribution is somehow "correct"

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