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Everything will increase in price to absorb the basic $12K. Don't you think for a moment it won't.
by JustSomeNobody 10y ago
Everything will increase in price to absorb the basic $12K. Don't you think for a moment it won't.
- rayiner 10y agoAt least as to rents, the inflation argument makes no sense. Yes, if everyone continues to live where they live now, basic income will drive up rents. But people won't do that. Basic income eliminates a major structural constraint that keeps rents high: the need for low-wage service workers to live near jobs, which are disproportionately located around expensive urban areas. The immigrant working as a minimum-wage bellhop doesn't live in the Bronx and commute an hour to work every day because he loves the New York City nightlife. He does it because that's where the bellhop jobs are. Basic income allows that immigrant to move to Iowa. Housing prices in Iowa will go up, but eliminating the jobs constraint unlocks so much more supply that the increase will be a drop in the bucket compared to how much money he saves moving from New York to Iowa. Of course that'll drive up wages for those who choose to remain as bellhops in New York, and thus hotel rates for people who stay at New York hotels. Those people can carry their own damn bags.