3 ms·

I'm not saying a universal basic income is good or bad, but notice the pivot you did there. You criticize programs that don't just spend all their money by givi

I'm not saying a universal basic income is good or bad, but notice the pivot you did there. You criticize programs that don't just spend all their money by giving it to the poor, then you say: "Which we could instead do directly with a universal basic income". That's a program which probably spends most of its money on something other than giving it to the poor, because lots of the money goes to people who aren't poor. Such a program could well have all kinds of perverse incentives too.

AnthonyMouse 9y ago
> That's a program which probably spends most of its money on something other than giving it to the poor, because lots of the money goes to people who aren't poor. A UBI is pure redistribution. There is no money that doesn't go to the poor, because where else would it go? Taking money from the rich and then giving them some of it back is just the same thing as only taking the difference to begin with, and the entire difference goes to the poor. It's equivalent to a government benefit with a phase out rate equal to the tax rate.
Chathamization 9y ago
With the right tax structures, it would end up focusing on giving money to lower income individuals. You have an increased progressive taxation structure such that for upper-middle income people the UBI is a wash (IE, someone making $100,000 a year is getting and additional $12,000 from UBI but paying $12,000 more than they would have before). The reason why UBI works well is because it's a cash handout (like the other person said, you're not specifying the needs of the individual), it's a universal and not means tested program (you don't have to go through a bureaucratic maze every time you become eligible), and it's instantaneous for people who have sudden changes in fortune (IE, the income stream is already set up).

3 ms·

I'm not saying a universal basic income is good or bad, but notice the pivot you did there. You criticize programs that don't just spend all their money by givi

by andrewem 9y ago

AnthonyMouse 9y ago
> That's a program which probably spends most of its money on something other than giving it to the poor, because lots of the money goes to people who aren't poor. A UBI is pure redistribution. There is no money that doesn't go to the poor, because where else would it go? Taking money from the rich and then giving them some of it back is just the same thing as only taking the difference to begin with, and the entire difference goes to the poor. It's equivalent to a government benefit with a phase out rate equal to the tax rate.
Chathamization 9y ago
With the right tax structures, it would end up focusing on giving money to lower income individuals. You have an increased progressive taxation structure such that for upper-middle income people the UBI is a wash (IE, someone making $100,000 a year is getting and additional $12,000 from UBI but paying $12,000 more than they would have before). The reason why UBI works well is because it's a cash handout (like the other person said, you're not specifying the needs of the individual), it's a universal and not means tested program (you don't have to go through a bureaucratic maze every time you become eligible), and it's instantaneous for people who have sudden changes in fortune (IE, the income stream is already set up).