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Good article. Money quote: "Basic income is unlimited runway. Entrepreneurs can feel free to try out crazy ideas without the constant pressure of losing their s

Good article. Money quote: "Basic income is unlimited runway. Entrepreneurs can feel free to try out crazy ideas without the constant pressure of losing their shirt; people in between jobs can feel free to spend time looking for options they can tolerate. Basic jobs solves none of these problems, and maintains the time pressures that prevent people from exploring interesting ideas or realizing their full potential."

batty_alex 8y ago
These things could also be achieved with government spending into things like: better unemployment guarantees, grants for entrepreneurs, or low-interest no-nonsense business loans. How does basic income solve the problem? If the income just covers expenses, where do you get the money on top of your BI to be an entrepreneur?
- tom_mellior 8y ago
  > better unemployment guarantees I don't know what you mean here. > grants for entrepreneurs You have to apply for grants, with a business idea that someone else has to consider sound. Not that good for trying out "crazy ideas" as the article mentioned. > low-interest no-nonsense business loans A loan is still a loan and doesn't abolish the "constant pressure of losing their shirt" the article mentioned. Free money without strings attached gives you more freedom than non-free money with strings attached, I'm not sure why we're even arguing about that. > If the income just covers expenses, where do you get the money on top of your BI to be an entrepreneur? Well, you won't be able to build a semiconductor factory in your bedroom on the UBI, but neither will you get a grant or no-nonsense business loan for that. The UBI can help entrepreneurs in industries with low capital requirements, like software development. A few people with laptops getting together and developing the next Angry Birds or Facebook or whatnot. As for how you get more money to have more starting capital, there can still be grants and loans and stuff, why wouldn't there be? Banks will continue to exist and will need to loan their money out. But also, you could get a job and earn money, like today, and save up. Or get a part-time job or whatever.
InTheTop2 8y ago
> Entrepreneurs can feel free to try out crazy ideas without the constant pressure of losing their shirt; Not sure where that "extrapolation" comes from. > people in between jobs can feel free to spend time looking for options they can tolerate. This doesn't seem to apply to the people such a program is aimed at. > Basic jobs solves none of these problems These aren't the problems the program addressed in the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Who can follow this twisted path to no conclusion? From the topical post: > I once read an economist discussing why unemployment exists at all. That's the kind of gem that's supposed to mean something, while steering the discussion. > Jobs are actually a big cause of poverty Revising "living" to be "working" is so toxic, as to highlight this is a giant troll. This article shows some select ignorance and is peppered with lies.

batty_alex 8y ago

These things could also be achieved with government spending into things like: better unemployment guarantees, grants for entrepreneurs, or low-interest no-nonsense business loans. How does basic income solve the problem? If the income just covers expenses, where do you get the money on top of your BI to be an entrepreneur?

tom_mellior 8y ago
> better unemployment guarantees I don't know what you mean here. > grants for entrepreneurs You have to apply for grants, with a business idea that someone else has to consider sound. Not that good for trying out "crazy ideas" as the article mentioned. > low-interest no-nonsense business loans A loan is still a loan and doesn't abolish the "constant pressure of losing their shirt" the article mentioned. Free money without strings attached gives you more freedom than non-free money with strings attached, I'm not sure why we're even arguing about that. > If the income just covers expenses, where do you get the money on top of your BI to be an entrepreneur? Well, you won't be able to build a semiconductor factory in your bedroom on the UBI, but neither will you get a grant or no-nonsense business loan for that. The UBI can help entrepreneurs in industries with low capital requirements, like software development. A few people with laptops getting together and developing the next Angry Birds or Facebook or whatnot. As for how you get more money to have more starting capital, there can still be grants and loans and stuff, why wouldn't there be? Banks will continue to exist and will need to loan their money out. But also, you could get a job and earn money, like today, and save up. Or get a part-time job or whatever.

InTheTop2 8y ago

> Entrepreneurs can feel free to try out crazy ideas without the constant pressure of losing their shirt; Not sure where that "extrapolation" comes from. > people in between jobs can feel free to spend time looking for options they can tolerate. This doesn't seem to apply to the people such a program is aimed at. > Basic jobs solves none of these problems These aren't the problems the program addressed in the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Who can follow this twisted path to no conclusion? From the topical post: > I once read an economist discussing why unemployment exists at all. That's the kind of gem that's supposed to mean something, while steering the discussion. > Jobs are actually a big cause of poverty Revising "living" to be "working" is so toxic, as to highlight this is a giant troll. This article shows some select ignorance and is peppered with lies.