3 ms·

While the author mentions "a communist utopia," minimum income programs have often come from market-oriented economists, such as with Milton Friedman's Negative

by Empact 17y ago

While the author mentions "a communist utopia," minimum income programs have often come from market-oriented economists, such as with Milton Friedman's Negative Income Tax, which he proposed as an alternative to a host of disruptive policies including the minimum wage and welfare, and the FairTax proposal, which includes monthly "prebate" checks.

lionheart 17y ago
I agree. I'm very market-oriented myself, but I think this could be a good way to run things, if done correctly. It seems to provide good benefits to the poor, while also being the least complex and least gameable welfare technique I can think of.
- orangecat 17y ago
  Right. It also potentially lessens the need for other regulations. For example minimum wage laws supposedly prevent exploiting the poor by "forcing" them to accept unfairly low pay because the alternative is homelessness or starvation. But with a guaranteed income the poor would have the ability to reject unfair wages without having to worry about survival. Ditto for lousy working conditions or excessive hours.
davidmathers 17y ago
minimum income programs have often come from market-oriented economists, such as with Milton Friedman's Negative Income Tax INTERVIEWER: Some of those debates became very, very heated. I think [Ludwig] von Mises once stormed out. MILTON FRIEDMAN: Oh, yes, he did. Yes, in the middle of a debate on the subject of distribution of income, in which you had people who you would hardly call socialist or egalitarian -- people like Lionel Robbins, like George Stigler, like Frank Knight, like myself -- Mises got up and said, "You're all a bunch of socialists," and walked right out of the room. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/in...
ckinnan 17y ago
America has a large minimum income program -- created by GOP President Ford and championed and expanded by Ronald Reagan-- the Earned Income Tax Credit. Of course, you have to work to receive the credit, and it is geared towards people with dependent children. The program will provide over $46 billion in cash this year...conservatives generally like it because it rewards work and there are no bureaucrats meddling with people's lives. (The program has a lot of fraud though)
kiba 17y ago
Fallacies of the Negative Income Tax on http://mises.org/story/2406 http://mises.org/story/2406 as a counterpoint to Friedman's proposal. I thought it is improtant to understand both side of the debate.

by Empact 17y ago

lionheart 17y ago

I agree. I'm very market-oriented myself, but I think this could be a good way to run things, if done correctly. It seems to provide good benefits to the poor, while also being the least complex and least gameable welfare technique I can think of.

orangecat 17y ago
Right. It also potentially lessens the need for other regulations. For example minimum wage laws supposedly prevent exploiting the poor by "forcing" them to accept unfairly low pay because the alternative is homelessness or starvation. But with a guaranteed income the poor would have the ability to reject unfair wages without having to worry about survival. Ditto for lousy working conditions or excessive hours.

davidmathers 17y ago

minimum income programs have often come from market-oriented economists, such as with Milton Friedman's Negative Income Tax INTERVIEWER: Some of those debates became very, very heated. I think [Ludwig] von Mises once stormed out. MILTON FRIEDMAN: Oh, yes, he did. Yes, in the middle of a debate on the subject of distribution of income, in which you had people who you would hardly call socialist or egalitarian -- people like Lionel Robbins, like George Stigler, like Frank Knight, like myself -- Mises got up and said, "You're all a bunch of socialists," and walked right out of the room. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/in...

ckinnan 17y ago

America has a large minimum income program -- created by GOP President Ford and championed and expanded by Ronald Reagan-- the Earned Income Tax Credit. Of course, you have to work to receive the credit, and it is geared towards people with dependent children. The program will provide over $46 billion in cash this year...conservatives generally like it because it rewards work and there are no bureaucrats meddling with people's lives. (The program has a lot of fraud though)

kiba 17y ago

Fallacies of the Negative Income Tax on http://mises.org/story/2406 http://mises.org/story/2406 as a counterpoint to Friedman's proposal. I thought it is improtant to understand both side of the debate.