That might be true. But the payouts were more limited than a nominal UBI program, and the costs were astronomical. The US added 20% of GDP in debt in a single

That might be true. But the payouts were more limited than a nominal UBI program, and the costs were astronomical. The US added 20% of GDP in debt in a single year. [1] The US Fed added 4 Trillion to it's balance sheet in 2 years [2] which is ballpark maybe 25% of GDP. Obviously there was more than just wealth distribution in there, but what becomes clear in the calculation is the gigantic expense of UBI. UBI doesn't work in current terms, it's not a program that can be remotely afforded without a 'total re-work of the system'. Surely there are opportunities with taxing the ultra-wealthy and considering loopholes (esp. offshore tax havens) but there's just no calculus where it works out neatly. In other words 'UBI' is not like 'child care benefits' or some kind of regular social program where can argue about the balance sheet. It's a completely different scale of costing problem. If the US focused really hard on 'some kind of healthcare for all' (not making any statements about what that might look like) and controlling costs there, improved minimum wage, and did 'basic structural tax reform' - things might improve quite a lot. (i.e. doing the hard work of reforming normal programs we have to have would go a very long way). But I don't think there's any actual magic math that would allow for a true, enduring UBI situation. Even really well managed Oil-rich places like Norway don't quite have that, they sort it out using the more accessible, 'normal' social programs etc.. For more context 'the current payout program' which is not not 'U' in the UBI, just for about 10% of the population, is going to cost 0.5% of GDP. Meaning just that limited program, expanded to 'U' i.e. 'Universal' is 5% of GDP, every year. Edit: finally should not that a lot of the expansion of the Fed's balance sheet amounts for 'welfare for the rich' and it's not a small amount. That's a problem as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_St... [2] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...