5 ms·

Truly universal UBI will result in reductions in paychecks by the amount of UBI. Business owners will think like this: "Hey Joe, from today we all are getting

Truly universal UBI will result in reductions in paychecks by the amount of UBI. Business owners will think like this: "Hey Joe, from today we all are getting X amount of dollars from the government. Thus, I am going to reduce your paycheck by the almost the same amount. You will have more money than now, and our business will get a break in these unfortunate economic times". For Joe, that would be a good offer: we will get effectively in increase in the money in his pocket, while minimizing the danger of being laid off since the business he works for will get 'a break'.

dogma1138 6y ago
Unlikely since UBI will likely be essentially offset by income tax so above a certain threshold (likely just slightly above full time minimum wage) the net benefit will be zero. If businesses reduce their pay they’ll have to pay higher rate taxes on their end (CIT, payroll tax, business rates). Also in many countries reducing income is illegal, especially in western countries. It’s often can only be done during restricting after going through an employment court as an alternative to redundancy and it’s limited both in amount and duration. That said truly universal UBI would require a considerably change to how and what we tax as well as the general employment market you likely won’t see basic income until there will be no means of offering sufficient employment to the majority of the population until then UBI is often less effective than direct benefits simply because it’s less. The main less from these UBI studies is that the threshold for cutting off means tested benefits is way too low and there is quite a bit of benefit to gain at continuing proving direct cash benefits at higher income levels. That said we currently don’t have any reasonable way to fund it, as well as to ensure that UBI isn’t going to be just a wealth transfer program from the working and middle class to corporations.

dogma1138 6y ago

Unlikely since UBI will likely be essentially offset by income tax so above a certain threshold (likely just slightly above full time minimum wage) the net benefit will be zero. If businesses reduce their pay they’ll have to pay higher rate taxes on their end (CIT, payroll tax, business rates). Also in many countries reducing income is illegal, especially in western countries. It’s often can only be done during restricting after going through an employment court as an alternative to redundancy and it’s limited both in amount and duration. That said truly universal UBI would require a considerably change to how and what we tax as well as the general employment market you likely won’t see basic income until there will be no means of offering sufficient employment to the majority of the population until then UBI is often less effective than direct benefits simply because it’s less. The main less from these UBI studies is that the threshold for cutting off means tested benefits is way too low and there is quite a bit of benefit to gain at continuing proving direct cash benefits at higher income levels. That said we currently don’t have any reasonable way to fund it, as well as to ensure that UBI isn’t going to be just a wealth transfer program from the working and middle class to corporations.