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Well it will be interesting to see if they do publish any findings. I do agree it would have been beneficial to see what would happen if workers were added to t

Well it will be interesting to see if they do publish any findings. I do agree it would have been beneficial to see what would happen if workers were added to the mix. The question some like myself would like to see is, did any of the initial participants gain employment and leave the program? What did they do differently while provided with UBI they did not do before. I would also like to see if they will be followed to determine the negative and positive effects on them after it being discontinued. my issue with the UBI fascination is that too many automatically assume there won't be work in a highly automated world or that costs of living won't decrease sufficiently as well. where it ends up is still unknown

icebraining 9y ago
did any of the initial participants gain employment and leave the program? The program didn't end even for people who found a job. That's the difference between UBI and regular unemployment benefits.
- anyzen 9y ago
  True. So, did any of the initial participants gain employment?
JibJabLab 9y ago
My issue with it is that we aren't even at a point where UBI is viable. Yes, we have lots of automation but we still have many times more jobs still not automated. The experiment isn't going to show accurate results. But I agree with you - there will still be work available in an automated society.
- akvadrako 9y ago
  UBI doesn't need automation at all; the big question is if society is more productive with it or with traditional welfare. That's why experiments are needed.
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  The same amount of work with the same relative amounts of pay? Doesn't that require far greater wealth distribution. Currently people mostly work for companies which make their capitalist owners rich. If the companies ditch workers and use robots then in order for the workers to also be employed the money from those owners needs to be spent on other things - the unemployed workers don't have money other than what they're spending with the pre-existing companies for food/clothing/housing and such. Those currently earning off others labour will increase their take of profits; by what mechanism will that additional proportion of the wealth be made available for new industries. What industries will move the wealth from the Uber rich and distribute it, they're going to need to be large employers of many low-skilled workers. I don't see how this can happen without a revolution such as UBI or a cultural shift to a communistic system, say, that can democratise the profits from robotisation. Yes, the industrial revolution freed workers to take up new roles, but the lower population and higher availability of easily acquired resources fed in to that. The world is different now, I don't see the same happening again, the maths of that doesn't add up.

icebraining 9y ago

did any of the initial participants gain employment and leave the program? The program didn't end even for people who found a job. That's the difference between UBI and regular unemployment benefits.

anyzen 9y ago
True. So, did any of the initial participants gain employment?

JibJabLab 9y ago

My issue with it is that we aren't even at a point where UBI is viable. Yes, we have lots of automation but we still have many times more jobs still not automated. The experiment isn't going to show accurate results. But I agree with you - there will still be work available in an automated society.

akvadrako 9y ago
UBI doesn't need automation at all; the big question is if society is more productive with it or with traditional welfare. That's why experiments are needed.
pbhjpbhj 9y ago
The same amount of work with the same relative amounts of pay? Doesn't that require far greater wealth distribution. Currently people mostly work for companies which make their capitalist owners rich. If the companies ditch workers and use robots then in order for the workers to also be employed the money from those owners needs to be spent on other things - the unemployed workers don't have money other than what they're spending with the pre-existing companies for food/clothing/housing and such. Those currently earning off others labour will increase their take of profits; by what mechanism will that additional proportion of the wealth be made available for new industries. What industries will move the wealth from the Uber rich and distribute it, they're going to need to be large employers of many low-skilled workers. I don't see how this can happen without a revolution such as UBI or a cultural shift to a communistic system, say, that can democratise the profits from robotisation. Yes, the industrial revolution freed workers to take up new roles, but the lower population and higher availability of easily acquired resources fed in to that. The world is different now, I don't see the same happening again, the maths of that doesn't add up.