411–420 of 669 posts
And also that if it was only given to some at a sliding scale, it is not universal.
My feelings are that if the basic income is not enough to cover the same privilege that the older generations have of home ownership and a pension covered lifestyle (food security, housing security, medical security) then it is not basic. And also that if it was only given to some at a sliding scale, it is not universal.
I dont believe basic income is possible until the day humanity discover a source of limitless energy cheaply obtainable.
My feelings are that if the basic income is not enough to cover the same privilege that the older generations have of home ownership and a pension covered lifestyle (food security, housing security, medical security) then it is not basic. And also that if it was only given to some at a sliding scale, it is not universal.
what counts as "basic" will continually shift towards more and more. I dont believe basic income is possible until the day humanity discover a source of limitless energy cheaply obtainable.
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> a negative effective phase-out rate: "for every $1 you make up to $X, you get $0.25 more from UBI/Welfare." The main problem with this is that the tax system is set up to prevent you from under-reporting your income. Over-reporting it is essentially trivial, e.g. two people who are in the relevant income range exchange favors (do each others' laundry etc.), or claim to have, and then actually report the transaction…
Doesn't a flat tax rate lower the income that a state has?
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> in my mind 'basic' doesn't translate to quitting your job and not working In society A, machines and clean energy allow the population to work an average of 20 hours a week. Some, even many people choose not to work at all, but still get access to a basic apartment and have their basic food, social and education, etc, needs met. In society B, machines and dirty energy allow a tiny segment of the population to live…
The way to get to A is through people working. We didn’t get from where we were 100 years ago to now because society as a whole was fine with working the minimum amount needed to sustain life.
Productivity gains since 1950 - 253% Wage growth since 1950 - 115%
We could be in society A right now if those gains weren't hoovered up by the yacht class.
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> Someone who's yearly income is in the 5th percentile is still earning in the 5th percentile. Isn't this an intended feature of UBI? The idea of UBI is that some level of material support should be guaranteed. It's about bringing "up" the floor, not really re-arranging relative equal and unequal positions. Plenty of people dislike that about it, but it's an intended feature. That said, this is basically inflationary…
> Isn't this an intended feature of UBI? The idea of UBI is that some level of material support should be guaranteed. It's about bringing "up" the floor, not really re-arranging relative equal and unequal positions. Plenty of people dislike that about it, but it's an intended feature. Absolutely, but I guess I don't see how just giving everyone money brings that floor up. Maybe I'm looking at this naively, but I don'…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism
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> The problem with welfare today is that its a disincentive to work No. The reason you say that is because you're young and you believe what you've heard. You will soon cease to be the former and then presumably, likely, stop to do the latter. People want to work, they want to be useful. And yes, if I support you but threaten to stop supporting you as soon as you get to work for money—suddenly working for money looks…
People say it because they experience similar cliffs in the tax system even with higher incomes. I live in the UK. Currently my marginal tax rate is something like 65% because for every £100 I earn, I pay 40% income tax, 12% national insurance, 9% student loan (which functions more like a tax here than a real loan), and I lose something called child benefit when I earn more. So yeah, I want to earn more, but it's pre…
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This is bordering on an unfalsifiable (hence religious claim). If it's only going to work if the money is in perpetuity and then, when that doesn't work, we require the money is in perpetuity for an individual and his descendants, and then, when that doesn't work, require the money is truly perpetual with no hope to end it, then there becomes no way to determine whether or not the policy works in any meaningful way.
Do we really need academic studies on this topic? When Republicans cut taxes on the rich, it is not like they are making sure they have academic consensus on their side. We know welfare works. It is pretty simple. People need to eat, they need shelter, and a few other basic necessities. When they fall on hard times, not having those things can make it infinitely harder to get back on their feet. Our current welfare s…
UBI is typically not envisioned as means-tested (hence ”universal”).
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Back in my college speech class, a woman gave a presentation basically supporting the "welfare today is a disincentive to work" myth, with emphasis on "today" (or current), while totally destroying the notion that welfare recipients don't "want" to work. She was a stay-at-home mom with 2 kids, her husband commit suicide after serving in Iraq and then being pushed out of the military (this was the 90s when the US mili…
There was a podcast or video about this exact same issue in... Sweden? Some anecdata from people receiving welfare, but couldn't start a job or a business because if they received any money, they get nothing from welfare and wouldn't be able to support themselves. This resulted in people that were trying to start a business not get paid for their work (I believe one of the anecdata was a photographer) because doing s…
Just subsidize the minimum wage. It's dead simple. Raise the minimum wage by $x but have that extra $x be paid from taxes, not the employer. Big businesses will scream "But inflation! But wage-price spiral!". Their screams are to be ignored.