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This is in some ways a preview of why the theory of basic income replacing other government spending (and therefore being fiscally conservative and libertarian)

This is in some ways a preview of why the theory of basic income replacing other government spending (and therefore being fiscally conservative and libertarian) is false. Alaska is redirecting money from universities to basic income (the oil dividend) and it’s considered an outrage. The same thing would happen for any government program.

shkkmo 7y ago
Not at all, the permanent fund dividend is immensely popular in Alaska. Additionally, it is actually money from the PFD that is used to fund the state government because the last democratic governor was unable to push through tax increases. What Alaska needs is a balanced package of raised taxes and budget controls, what we have is political gridlock and dysfunction.
- jakecarpenter 7y ago
  There weren't tax increases, we don't have taxes to increase. We use oil tax and PF revenue to fund our government almost exclusively. Some municipalities and cities have sales/property taxes, but most don't. I agree that we need a balanced package, but we also need to stop paying billions a year in tax credits and incentive to oil companies.
chillacy 7y ago
Replacing government services with cash seems to be fairly libertarian: decrease the size of government, increase freedom for consumers who would be served by the market instead of these services, no?
- cavisne 7y ago
  The point is they won’t be replaced, as removing any government program is considered an outrage. So the end result of basic income is the existing level of spend + basic income.
  - haihaibye 7y ago
    This post is about cut services.
xamuel 7y ago
Well, in theory, people can use that basic income to pay for school... or they could, if the school wasn't so bloated and overpriced, which the school has been getting away with because the government has been giving it so much money.
- drak0n1c 7y ago
  True, federal subsidies and loans responsible for inflating tuitions nationwide have reached a total of $120 billion per year. https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2017report/fsa-report.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2017report/fsa-repo...

shkkmo 7y ago

Not at all, the permanent fund dividend is immensely popular in Alaska. Additionally, it is actually money from the PFD that is used to fund the state government because the last democratic governor was unable to push through tax increases. What Alaska needs is a balanced package of raised taxes and budget controls, what we have is political gridlock and dysfunction.

jakecarpenter 7y ago
There weren't tax increases, we don't have taxes to increase. We use oil tax and PF revenue to fund our government almost exclusively. Some municipalities and cities have sales/property taxes, but most don't. I agree that we need a balanced package, but we also need to stop paying billions a year in tax credits and incentive to oil companies.

chillacy 7y ago

Replacing government services with cash seems to be fairly libertarian: decrease the size of government, increase freedom for consumers who would be served by the market instead of these services, no?

cavisne 7y ago
The point is they won’t be replaced, as removing any government program is considered an outrage. So the end result of basic income is the existing level of spend + basic income.
- haihaibye 7y ago
  This post is about cut services.

xamuel 7y ago

Well, in theory, people can use that basic income to pay for school... or they could, if the school wasn't so bloated and overpriced, which the school has been getting away with because the government has been giving it so much money.

drak0n1c 7y ago
True, federal subsidies and loans responsible for inflating tuitions nationwide have reached a total of $120 billion per year. https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2017report/fsa-report.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2017report/fsa-repo...