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Covid job losses lead MPs to call for trials of universal basic income
- seibelj 6y agoThe problem is a trial needs to last an entire lifetime to be accurate. If I know it’s going to last, say, 3 years, it isn’t going to affect my future in a way true UBI is. So I don’t like these trials other than as marketing stunts. The other problem of UBI is that it needs to last a lifetime, but even if support lasts say 15 years, a government change and eroding support from the public can potentially get rid of it or modify it intensely. When the money has to come from the public purse it is always on shaky ground. At a minimum I would take all of our existing welfare structures (this is USA perspective) such as food stamps, section 8 housing, welfare, disability, etc. and convert all of them into a direct cash payment. Eliminate all the bureaucracy and paternalism and just give people cash. Then have a sliding scale where if you manage to earn an income, the benefits get reduced slowly to not discourage you from working. Welfare and food stamps discourage someone from getting a job, which we should reform.
- mjbeswick 6y agoThat's pretty much happens in the UK, it's called "universal credit".
- just-juan-post 6y agoOr you know just end the lockdowns. Stuff like this reminds me of the Simpsons episode where all the snakes get loose so they let loose birds to eat the snakes and then let loose gorillas to eat the birds. The government broke your leg, they are handing you a crutch, and you are thanking them. They could spend trillions on UBI. Or end the lockdowns tomorrow for free.
- EliRivers 6y agoI suspect they fear some kind of negative consequence to ending the lockdowns tomorrow.