4 ms·

> flat-out blows all their money and now can't afford rent and/or food? Well for starters I'd imagine a future BI system to handle something like rent via dire

by thoth 10y ago

> flat-out blows all their money and now can't afford rent and/or food? Well for starters I'd imagine a future BI system to handle something like rent via direct transfer to the landlord. Food handled the same way, some prepaid debit card that only works at grocery stores, etc. I don't envision a system where people pick up a stack of 20's with a post-it note on it that says "remember to pay your rent".

_rpd 10y ago
Isn't the whole point to eliminate administrative overhead?
ksenzee 10y ago
What you're describing is conditional cash transfers. We have that in the US already (public housing vouchers, food stamps). BI is an unconditional cash transfer. It really is more like a stack of 20s.
xienze 10y ago
> Well for starters I'd imagine a future BI system to handle something like rent via direct transfer to the landlord. Food handled the same way, some prepaid debit card that only works at grocery stores, etc. In other words, exactly what I said originally. You'd be recreating the administrative overhead BI is intended to eliminate (section 8 for housing, food stamps for food).
- Arainach 10y ago
  BI isn't necessarily intended to eliminate overhead. It's intended to acknowledge that we're rapidly approaching an economy where there aren't jobs for everyone (thanks to automation and a number of other factors that have been discussed) and to aid the transition to that point.
- fineIllregister 10y ago
  This doesn't have to be a government function. I do case management, and many of my clients receive social assistance in the form of unconditional cash transfers. They often have poor credit and incidents in their rental histories, so they don't meet the standards required to rent. However, landlords/property managers will grant exceptions if the social assistance is sent directly to a third party with an agreement that rent and utilities are paid first. Since this isn't a complicated or difficult role to fill, it's a competitive space with low fees.

by thoth 10y ago

_rpd 10y ago

Isn't the whole point to eliminate administrative overhead?

ksenzee 10y ago

What you're describing is conditional cash transfers. We have that in the US already (public housing vouchers, food stamps). BI is an unconditional cash transfer. It really is more like a stack of 20s.

xienze 10y ago

> Well for starters I'd imagine a future BI system to handle something like rent via direct transfer to the landlord. Food handled the same way, some prepaid debit card that only works at grocery stores, etc. In other words, exactly what I said originally. You'd be recreating the administrative overhead BI is intended to eliminate (section 8 for housing, food stamps for food).

Arainach 10y ago
BI isn't necessarily intended to eliminate overhead. It's intended to acknowledge that we're rapidly approaching an economy where there aren't jobs for everyone (thanks to automation and a number of other factors that have been discussed) and to aid the transition to that point.
fineIllregister 10y ago
This doesn't have to be a government function. I do case management, and many of my clients receive social assistance in the form of unconditional cash transfers. They often have poor credit and incidents in their rental histories, so they don't meet the standards required to rent. However, landlords/property managers will grant exceptions if the social assistance is sent directly to a third party with an agreement that rent and utilities are paid first. Since this isn't a complicated or difficult role to fill, it's a competitive space with low fees.