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Basic income experiments here have not succeeded FWIU; https://hn.algolia.com/?q=basic+income https://hn.algolia.com/?q=basic+income They did not pay for the r

• westurner 2y ago
  Reaganomics > Policies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics#Policies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics#Policies : > The 1982 tax increase undid a third of the initial tax cut. In 1983 Reagan instituted a payroll tax increase on Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance. [25] In 1984 another bill was introduced that closed tax loopholes. According to tax historian Joseph Thorndike, the bills of 1982 and 1984 "constituted the biggest tax increase ever enacted during peacetime". [26] Also, >> said the Reaganites who increased taxes on the middle class and increased foreign war expenditures and future obligations: To clarify, Reagan reduced taxes for the wealthiest the most, thus shifting the effective tax burden to the middle class and increasing inequality. "Changes in poverty, income inequality, and the standard of living in the United States during the Reagan years" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8500951/#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20poverty%20at,increase%20inequality%20but%20reduced%20poverty. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8500951/#:~:text=The%20rate%... : > The rate of poverty at the end of Reagan's term was the same as in 1980. Cutbacks in income transfers during the Reagan years helped increase both poverty and inequality. Changes in tax policy helped increase inequality but reduced poverty. Gini Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient GINI Index for the United States: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SIPOVGINIUSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SIPOVGINIUSA "Make America Great Again": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again At that time - during the 1970s and 1980s - Federal Debt as a percentage of GDP was much lower than it is today; 30-53% in the 1980s and 120% of GDP in 2024 : > Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product" https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S
• anenefan 2y ago
  Ah sorry for not being to the point as I forget just how many systems there are globally - I meant minimum wage payments. The effect would not be immediate and would take years, though a tax break for businesses for each US citizen on their payroll would surely help speed it up. I have known too many US based people who moan about the influx but happy to have jobs done by illegals at a really dirt cheap rate. As as additional note, Australia had this fair wage pay as law for a great number of years, but somewhere along the line people plain forgot. Back in the 70s the country used to have Aussie based workers that travelled the entire country, north to south and back again to follow work as seasonal workers in agriculture. However the process for hiring an employee was a handful and red tape most DIY accounting folks didn't like dealing with so much, meant the option of simplified payment steam to a company providing labour was and still is very attractive, even though some of the procedures has been relaxed. (Also until a decade or two ago, for years the employer would be paying into a black hole fund for worker's compensation, even if their crop was wiped out or for some other reason would not be needing any additional workers.) In the 90s I got to witness all sorts of BS schemes to get non aussie workers into the work force, like 457 visas so companies could fill jobs that they couldn't fill locally. Eventually everyone and their dog cottoned on to the shenanigans and ... for the most part a lot went by the way side. We still have noise here in Aussie land how backpackers save this and that because Aussies are lazy and what not - nope, most here growing up in the heat know working in conditions too hot or some other unsafe instance have long term consequences, might be 5 years down the track and the kidney damage finally reaches a point it needs to be addressed. Backpackers (tourists with a work visa who travel and work their way around a country) are typically long gone back in their home land, so they're ideal for scam labour companies and the odd no moral compass farmer.
  • westurner 2y ago
    Andrew Yang (and Sam Altman) probably have a piece to say about basic income / wage subsidies in context to the robots and sophisticated AI taking our jobs and tiny houses. Migrant labor exploitation? What would our food cost? How many people does it take to mow a sand lawn? I hope that the current hate for immigrants isn't much more than divisive political fearmongering and splitting that will diminish when they regain their humility and self respect due to food prices and having a conscience. Creating jobs on the other side of the border would probably be more cost-effective. IDK, "Terminator: Dark Fate", "The Big Green", "Amistad", "McFarland, USA" H1B competition in tech is fierce here, and the reason we don't get hired in our own country. Indiar and Chinar have more gifted students than we have students. Americans won't work the fields anymore; we'll pay Asia to manufacture robots and learn sustainable farming practices like no-till farming later. The new sustainable aviation fuel subsidy (of the previous administration) requires sustainable farming practices so that we're not subsidizing unrealized losses due soil depletion. It doesn't make sense to pay them to waste the land without consideration. Your success with fighting desertification is inspiring. We're still not sure why the Colorado river is running dry for the southwest where it's always been dry and carelessly farmed and drilled. TIL about bunds and preventing water from flashing off due to impacted soil trashed by years of tilling and overgrazing. I've a few friends who've traveled to Oceania for school and work. There should be an Australian "The Office". Welfare economics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_economics