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$364 million is a staggering amount. In one year! Imagine if they put that money into an endowment and gave each homeless person a basic income from the interes

$364 million is a staggering amount. In one year! Imagine if they put that money into an endowment and gave each homeless person a basic income from the interest... But no, they can’t do that. It would piss too many people off. The problem with homelessness is that it’s always someone else’s problem. Everyone agrees that it should be dealt with, just that no one wants to deal with it themselves.

mikeyouse 6y ago
$364 million at 3% interest is like $11m/year. That'd pay something like $100/month to each of the homeless people in a city where studios are closer to $2000/month. Not to mention the health and psych problems many of the homeless have.
- chongli 6y ago
  $364 million per year, so the endowment grows every year. After just 10 years, the endowment will have grown to $3.64 billion. Also you can do a lot better than 3% if you invest the money wisely. You also don’t have to divide it equally among homeless people. You could start with a few and add more to the program over time, as the endowment grows. Those getting the money would be assessed based on potential to get off the streets permanently and find jobs, housing, etc.
  - mikeyouse 6y ago
    The benefits of taxation is that you don't need to build up an endowment, you can just pay it today. You could spend $364M today, and then next year, and then every year. Why introduce random financial engineering to the mix?
    - chongli 6y ago
      Why introduce random financial engineering to the mix? Because then it pays for itself. Look at the Nobel prizes. Look at Harvard University. Look at the Norwegian pension fund. These are backed by HUGE endowments which pay for themselves with profits earned on the market. They are also extremely stable. On the other hand, look at Social Security in the US. Any sort of benefits program paid for by taxes is exposed to political interference. That makes them inherently unstable.
pavel_lishin 6y ago
> The problem with homelessness is that it’s always someone else’s problem. One of the problems with homelessness is that it's a systemic issue. Another problem with homelessness is that it's dozens of problems, because different people have different reasons for being homeless. A mother living with her two kids in a tent could see most of her problems solved with a monthly cash injection; she could get an apartment, make sure her kids have sufficient care while she works, or just take care of them herself using the stipend. The guy who sits on a bench howling at the moon because he's convinced it's implanted digital worms in his teeth? If you cut him a check, he's not going to be equipped to spend it in a way that's beneficial for himself.

mikeyouse 6y ago

$364 million at 3% interest is like $11m/year. That'd pay something like $100/month to each of the homeless people in a city where studios are closer to $2000/month. Not to mention the health and psych problems many of the homeless have.

chongli 6y ago
$364 million per year, so the endowment grows every year. After just 10 years, the endowment will have grown to $3.64 billion. Also you can do a lot better than 3% if you invest the money wisely. You also don’t have to divide it equally among homeless people. You could start with a few and add more to the program over time, as the endowment grows. Those getting the money would be assessed based on potential to get off the streets permanently and find jobs, housing, etc.
- mikeyouse 6y ago
  The benefits of taxation is that you don't need to build up an endowment, you can just pay it today. You could spend $364M today, and then next year, and then every year. Why introduce random financial engineering to the mix?
  - chongli 6y ago
    Why introduce random financial engineering to the mix? Because then it pays for itself. Look at the Nobel prizes. Look at Harvard University. Look at the Norwegian pension fund. These are backed by HUGE endowments which pay for themselves with profits earned on the market. They are also extremely stable. On the other hand, look at Social Security in the US. Any sort of benefits program paid for by taxes is exposed to political interference. That makes them inherently unstable.

pavel_lishin 6y ago

> The problem with homelessness is that it’s always someone else’s problem. One of the problems with homelessness is that it's a systemic issue. Another problem with homelessness is that it's dozens of problems, because different people have different reasons for being homeless. A mother living with her two kids in a tent could see most of her problems solved with a monthly cash injection; she could get an apartment, make sure her kids have sufficient care while she works, or just take care of them herself using the stipend. The guy who sits on a bench howling at the moon because he's convinced it's implanted digital worms in his teeth? If you cut him a check, he's not going to be equipped to spend it in a way that's beneficial for himself.