One can always postulate hard to measure second order effects, such as the ones the Mincome study claims (note that it doesn't actually quantify them, but merel

One can always postulate hard to measure second order effects, such as the ones the Mincome study claims (note that it doesn't actually quantify them, but merely hints as to their direction). However, it's a bit strange to expect that all the second order effects will happen to point in the direction of our preferred policy. The only quantified effect here - labor force disincentive - has been measured and agrees 100% with economic theory. It also agrees with other related (but not identical) results, namely that welfare/unemployment also has a huge labor force disincentive. Why are we appealing to unquantified second order effects when the first order effects are measured and shown to be large, shown to be in 100% agreement with basic economic theory, and viewed by many proponents of BI as a desired feature [1]? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619691 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11619691