FYI the April 13 show of the Freakonomics Podcast takes on the question "Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income?" and mentions some of the prior studies noted in this article.
Overall the basic income idea... I don't like it in a lot of ways, I just can't see it resulting in a productive society personally. But that's just my gut reaction and I could be wrong, so far the data I've seen is a pretty mixed bag.
I think things like this are a great way to experiment with it though (and without tax payer money). I might change my mind if there's more good data.
Basic income could just as likely increase productivity. Without the need to work, there is a greater incentive to automate jobs. People don't work crap jobs because they like to, they do it because they have to. Anyone who wants a higher standard of living than the basic income minimum can improve their skills while they're sustained by their safety net. Meanwhile, basic income puts more money in the pockets of consumers, creating more market opportunities, especially for the low-cost goods and services those consumers used to work to make.
Or maybe everything I've said is bullshit. Who knows? Only one thing is for sure: without experimentation, we only hurt ourselves in the long run.
ultramancool|9 years ago
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/11/08/243967328/episo...
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/08/16/212645252/episo...
Overall the basic income idea... I don't like it in a lot of ways, I just can't see it resulting in a productive society personally. But that's just my gut reaction and I could be wrong, so far the data I've seen is a pretty mixed bag.
I think things like this are a great way to experiment with it though (and without tax payer money). I might change my mind if there's more good data.
rm_-rf_slash|9 years ago
Or maybe everything I've said is bullshit. Who knows? Only one thing is for sure: without experimentation, we only hurt ourselves in the long run.