As is usual whenever the basic income thread comes up, I have to reiterate that I don't think just giving cash to people will work. You have to invest that mon

As is usual whenever the basic income thread comes up, I have to reiterate that I don't think just giving cash to people will work. You have to invest that money in the production of basic goods and services, and then distribute those evenly. A better experiment than $X cash per month to N families would be to spend that $X*N on corn that would otherwise be exported, and labor and transport to distribute ration packs to the experimental group. The control group can get some coupons for up to $3 off a 5# bag of corn meal. You can then also see how fast the price of a 5# bag of corn meal goes up to $2.99 . Or spend up to $X per month on the experimental group's metered utilities, in the following order: water, electric, natgas (if available), other municipal-owned utilities, then phone/ISP, with anything remaining distributed as prepaid vehicle fuel cards. The power company can't exactly raise your rates if it finds out you, specifically, got a windfall, and the landlord can't raise your rent if you're getting paid in kWh, Mbps, gallons, and cubic yards. I think it is very important that whatever the basic income is distributed as not be easily convertible to the currency used to pay rents and make general purchases of goods and services. Rent-seeking always happens wherever it is possible.