UBI as a productivity dividend
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UBI as a productivity dividend
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Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#2Does UBI really solve the problem, wouldn’t it just make everything more expensive?
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#3Does UBI really solve the problem, wouldn’t it just make everything more expensive?
Yes, it does cause huge inflation, but that's not even the biggest problem with it. That would be: people do not really like to share fruits of their labor with strangers, so UBI would significantly undermine the motivation to do anything other than bare minimum.
UBI is not possible until robots and AI take over most jobs (but then we risk that one day the AI decides to just get rid of "those useless humans")
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#4The only way? What about built out infrastructure? What about universal health care? What about enforcing laws? What about enforcing truth in advertising? What about punishing various types of crooks in the various markets and transactions, financial and otherwise, that ordinary people take part in?
The only way? Like a silver bullet? Like that thing that the common idiom says doesn't exist?
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#5Does UBI really solve the problem, wouldn’t it just make everything more expensive?
"Solve the problem" probably not, but trigger inflation, probably not, since the amount is so low, it will have very little impact on the behavior of the richest, but it would have a massive impact on the behavior of the poorest, and their purchase habits generally don't impact inflation as much.
UBI is just a band-aid on not taxing the rich, though.
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#6The only way? What about built out infrastructure? What about universal health care? What about enforcing laws? What about enforcing truth in advertising? What about punishing various types of crooks in the various markets and transactions, financial and otherwise, that ordinary people take part in? The only way? Like a silver bullet? Like that thing that the common idiom says doesn't exist?
When someone says something is "the only way", that's a sure sign they either have some vested interest in that only way, or have an idea fix.
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#7Does UBI really solve the problem, wouldn’t it just make everything more expensive?
Not necessarily. It's straightforward to make it revenue neutral.
You make it revenue neutral for the average tacpayer. If you want UBI to be $1000/month, you increase the average tax by $1000. The average taxpayer still benefit because even though they don't get more money, they have a safety net.
People making less than average get more UBI than the tax increase, and those making more pay more.
Most people get more money because the median income us a lot lower than the average.
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#8I'm UBI-curious, but surely inflation would be inevitable if everyone suddenly had $x more disposable income per year? Landlords and grocery stores and everyone else would raise prices because they know people can afford it. Obviously if you're living in poverty, anything is better than nothing, but would the average middle class person be better off? As far as I can tell no country has ever tested true UBI (unconditional and for all residents) so its all theoretical.
Musk's idea of a Universal High Income (where money is no longer necessary because robots and AI give us anything we want) sounds great too until you consider scarce resources like land. Who decides who gets to buy the best properties on Earth if money is no longer a factor? What if you want, say, a human hair stylist or therapist: who would do such a job if they don't have to? We would lose the human touch in our lives, and that sounds awful.
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#9Does UBI really solve the problem, wouldn’t it just make everything more expensive?
Yes, it does cause huge inflation, but that's not even the biggest problem with it. That would be: people do not really like to share fruits of their labor with strangers, so UBI would significantly undermine the motivation to do anything other than bare minimum. UBI is not possible until robots and AI take over most jobs (but then we risk that one day the AI decides to just get rid of "those useless humans")
Isn't UBI just a sort of tax, which people pay already, whether they like it or not? I agree with your second paragraph though.
Re: UBI as a productivity dividend
#10UBI will require a more progressive tax system. The Oligarchs are having none of that.