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People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

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Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#21
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that a lot of people who are born rich still choose to work.

Yes, usually to stay rich.

As self reported by many truly rich folks, money is not a motivating factor in their daily lives. If they want a good burger, they'll get one and not care if it's $1 or $1,000.

Such an attitude would certainly apply to their reasons for working.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#22
So most people 'kept working' but 25% quit, I think that kind of validates that a lot of people will quit, which is the concern. 25% is a lot. It'd be interesting to see numbers from those who were not employed, i.e. how many gained employment.

The bits about 'having to drop future plans' isn't fair. Of course, people will have to adjust after losing a major source of income.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#23
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is from Canada, don't they have universal healthcare?

Yes, and many municipalities have rent regulations

Some do, most are very basic outside of Quebec, and even then, I can't remember the last time a tenant sued an operator because they illegally increased the rent in Quebec (the new tenant would need the old tenants lease, plus proof that the increase wasn't justified).

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#25

The issue I see with basic income is that most money is spent on housing and health care. These two things are supply constrained so it's more of an auction for who can afford them. With basic income, we may just raise the cost of those things. This problem wouldn't appear in a study that distributed to only some individuals. We need to solve the regulatory or otherwise organizational problems of these things to prov…

I disagree on the housing point. With basic income, people who can’t afford housing in expensive areas would move to towns with cheap housing/land but less lucrative/efficient work. There’s no housing shortage in rural areas.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#26
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is from Canada, don't they have universal healthcare?

Nowhere has universal healthcare. The basic healthcare is bad, so you can pay more to get better access, or go to the US for actual good care.

This isn’t true. Numerous countries have public healthcare systems that service the public successfully, like Singapore.

Sure, you can pay to access the private system, which is a nominal amount compared to what we pay in the US.

The US ranks among the worst of the first world nations in terms of access to and quality of healthcare[0]. Just look at our hospital borne MRSA infection rates.

The idea that the US delivers consistent, quality care across the nation is laughably false.

0: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/among-11-count...

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is the glaring flaw in all of them as far as I've seen. On the other hand, who knows how long UBI would stay in place in a democratic country? It might get voted out in the next election, too.

People are already complaining about taxes too high and lazy welfare recipients. With UBI this would get even worse and I agree that most likely it would get voted out very quickly. If we can’t even get universal health care, robust social safety net or secure retirement going without political fights, forget UBI.

The argument for UBI in place of those other things is that it's extremely simple. Legislatively, bureaucratically, etc. Just give people more money to offset all of these systems that are too expensive. Simpler also means cheaper to implement.

It does avoid dealing with the root problems in some sense, but it's certainly elegant.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#28

The issue I see with basic income is that most money is spent on housing and health care. These two things are supply constrained so it's more of an auction for who can afford them. With basic income, we may just raise the cost of those things. This problem wouldn't appear in a study that distributed to only some individuals. We need to solve the regulatory or otherwise organizational problems of these things to prov…

> most money is spent on housing and health care In Canada? Would not an increase in demand for such things lead to a corresponding increase in supply? Or is there something I don't know about supply restrictions in Canada?

Yes. Everytime someone says the price will just go up to match it's like some imaginary world where the one thing you can't apply supply/demand is the welfare of people. Housing is not fixed and healthcare is a function of prevention which is best served by proactive measures instead of reactive which are generally more expensive. We can actually save money by not being so inefficient with the capital in the first place.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#29
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is from Canada, don't they have universal healthcare?

Nowhere has universal healthcare. The basic healthcare is bad, so you can pay more to get better access, or go to the US for actual good care.

It seems Americans often believe that, but virtually nobody in Western Europe would even think of going to the US for healthcare. I would assume the same for Canadians.

I have no idea if that's actually true, but the widespread opinion is that the ~free (it depends a lot between countries, it's usually simply affordable, rather than free) healthcare here is much better than what a normal person can afford in the US.

Re: People kept working, became healthier while on basic income: report

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is the glaring flaw in all of them as far as I've seen. On the other hand, who knows how long UBI would stay in place in a democratic country? It might get voted out in the next election, too.

It's been about 40 years for the Alaska permanent fund dividends and it's popular AFAIK.

The Alaska thing is different. It's a) not enough money to be considered b) a reasonable response to the direct revenues from an Oil windfall.

Now, it might be a good example of how a nation should distribute revenues from natural resources, i.e. right into the hands of the people. But it's not a UBI substitute.

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