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Some good points. So what would you estimate and how?
by BatFastard 9y ago
Some good points. So what would you estimate and how?
- openasocket 9y agoAssume you give $1000/mo to all people below the poverty line as a replacement for all current social safety net programs (including ETC and SNAP and Social Security, but not or Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP). There are currently 43.1 million Americans living in poverty. But, keep in mind many Americans are only above the poverty line because of government assistance. According to the link I gave, without any government assistance it is estimated 79.1 million Americans would be in poverty. You wind up with ~$949.2B, which is close to what we're paying currently. It would also involve cuts to various groups. For instance, the average retiree gets ~$1,300/mo from Social Security. There's actually a larger issue I forgot to mention: what you're talking about isn't actually BI. In your computation you assume we're only paying $1000/mo to those who are not on Social Security and are not employed. But the whole point of Basic Income is that it goes to everyone. What you're talking about is just a different form of welfare, and completely unrelated to what this system is proposing.
- BatFastard 9y agoSocial security is its own beast, but tapping into those funds would add about 850 billion more. So maybe a better name for it would be Guaranteed Minimum Income, that way it takes employed people out of the pool. And yes you could call it welfare. It would also replace the unemployment income system, another source of expenses.
- BatFastard 9y agoThe tapered income tax idea has value. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/30/15712160/basic-income-oecd-aei-replace-welfare-state https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/30/15712160/b...