3 ms·

I think what’s likely to happen is that the price of the inelastically-supplied products (housing, medical care, services) inflate to the point where there is n

I think what’s likely to happen is that the price of the inelastically-supplied products (housing, medical care, services) inflate to the point where there is no money left over to buy more of the elastically-supplied (optional) products. Thus, no net gain from UBI. If there were a net gain, expect UBI to cause service costs to inflate as labor supply is removed from the market, or the labor supply remains constant and the population grows in response to surplus resources which can be used for breeding (which then inflates the costs of inelastic goods, like housing).

jbay808 6y ago
Again, in some places this might happen, but not everywhere. For example, do you really think that it won't be possible to rent a room for less than $10k/year ($813 per month), anywhere in the country? Secondly, if your net income is currently $0, then it's hard to imagine that price inflation alone could be enough to keep your purchasing power from significantly increasing with UBI. Thirdly, labor supply might not necessarily be removed; there would be less need for a minimum wage, and fewer cases where eg. disability payments or unemployment payments are an active disincentive against working (get a job and get paid less than you earn on unemployment handouts), so there's a reasonable chance the labor supply would increase for many tasks.
- new_realist 6y ago
  It seems like UBI either promotes overrunning the planet with more humans (more resources = more reproduction), or else there are restrictions on where humans can spread, creating housing inflation. Or a mix of both.
- Izkata 6y ago
  > do you really think that it won't be possible to rent a room for less than $10k/year ...that's not what they're saying. The 10k/year wouldn't all go to one cost, it would get split across all costs, distributed by peoples' choices. Certain foods may go up only a couple dollars, while rent could increase a few hundred, until in aggregate across all costs that extra 10k is used up with no net gain to quality of life.
  - jbay808 6y ago
    If your current income and expenses are $X and $Y, there's some X and Y for which that will be true. But it's necessarily greater than X = 0. The resulting increase in prices will not compensate for the increase in income, for sufficiently low income.

jbay808 6y ago

Again, in some places this might happen, but not everywhere. For example, do you really think that it won't be possible to rent a room for less than $10k/year ($813 per month), anywhere in the country? Secondly, if your net income is currently $0, then it's hard to imagine that price inflation alone could be enough to keep your purchasing power from significantly increasing with UBI. Thirdly, labor supply might not necessarily be removed; there would be less need for a minimum wage, and fewer cases where eg. disability payments or unemployment payments are an active disincentive against working (get a job and get paid less than you earn on unemployment handouts), so there's a reasonable chance the labor supply would increase for many tasks.

new_realist 6y ago
It seems like UBI either promotes overrunning the planet with more humans (more resources = more reproduction), or else there are restrictions on where humans can spread, creating housing inflation. Or a mix of both.
Izkata 6y ago
> do you really think that it won't be possible to rent a room for less than $10k/year ...that's not what they're saying. The 10k/year wouldn't all go to one cost, it would get split across all costs, distributed by peoples' choices. Certain foods may go up only a couple dollars, while rent could increase a few hundred, until in aggregate across all costs that extra 10k is used up with no net gain to quality of life.
- jbay808 6y ago
  If your current income and expenses are $X and $Y, there's some X and Y for which that will be true. But it's necessarily greater than X = 0. The resulting increase in prices will not compensate for the increase in income, for sufficiently low income.