4 ms·

I don't think this is about giving poor people a regular income, more like a one-time cash transfer. The idea is that money is a good "fishing pole".

by jkn 14y ago

vidarh 14y ago
There's been at least one experiment that involved giving an income for an extended period of time as well, unfortunately I can't remember where I read about it. Their results were at least in the short term similar: Some "abuse" (to the extent you can call it that when the money were given with no strings), but also a number of people who leveraged their "free income" into building businesses.
- jkn 14y ago
  Maybe you're thinking of one of the experiments implementing the basic income guarantee idea [1]. The Wikipedia page mentions successful but limited experiments in Canada and India among others. It's also an interesting approach, but I think more as a way to redefine the meaning of work in developed countries. The burden of having to make a living becomes the freedom of contributing what you want and enjoy doing (or getting a high salary for doing what you don't enjoy, as you choose), a great philosophical shift... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee
  - vidarh 14y ago
    It was actually the experiement in Omitara, Namibia mentioned on the wikipedia page you linked (thanks) I remembered.
j-g-faustus 14y ago
Agreed. If we buy the principle that individuals generally make better decisions for themselves than governments or committees can do for them, there's no reason why it should be different for the poor. In the "fishing pole" analogy: You may give them a fishing pole in the best "central planning" fashion, but they may have little use for a fishing pole because there's practically no fish in the region. By giving them money, you trust them to decide for themselves whether a fishing pole would be more useful than say a plow. I think there is a point where people stop trying to be self-sufficient and start relying on handouts. It would be interesting to know what triggers it. But the assumption that some external provider of aid always knows which kind of aid is better is probably a fallacy.

I don't think this is about giving poor people a regular income, more like a one-time cash transfer. The idea is that money is a good "fishing pole".

by jkn 14y ago

I don't think this is about giving poor people a regular income, more like a one-time cash transfer. The idea is that money is a good "fishing pole".

vidarh 14y ago

There's been at least one experiment that involved giving an income for an extended period of time as well, unfortunately I can't remember where I read about it. Their results were at least in the short term similar: Some "abuse" (to the extent you can call it that when the money were given with no strings), but also a number of people who leveraged their "free income" into building businesses.

jkn 14y ago
Maybe you're thinking of one of the experiments implementing the basic income guarantee idea [1]. The Wikipedia page mentions successful but limited experiments in Canada and India among others. It's also an interesting approach, but I think more as a way to redefine the meaning of work in developed countries. The burden of having to make a living becomes the freedom of contributing what you want and enjoy doing (or getting a high salary for doing what you don't enjoy, as you choose), a great philosophical shift... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income_guarantee
- vidarh 14y ago
  It was actually the experiement in Omitara, Namibia mentioned on the wikipedia page you linked (thanks) I remembered.

j-g-faustus 14y ago

Agreed. If we buy the principle that individuals generally make better decisions for themselves than governments or committees can do for them, there's no reason why it should be different for the poor. In the "fishing pole" analogy: You may give them a fishing pole in the best "central planning" fashion, but they may have little use for a fishing pole because there's practically no fish in the region. By giving them money, you trust them to decide for themselves whether a fishing pole would be more useful than say a plow. I think there is a point where people stop trying to be self-sufficient and start relying on handouts. It would be interesting to know what triggers it. But the assumption that some external provider of aid always knows which kind of aid is better is probably a fallacy.