Positive Statistics for Basic Universal Income
Positive Statistics for Basic Universal Income
H/T Gideon Rosenblatt
The answer defied Costello’s initial hypothesis. “I thought, ‘There’s such a pit of poverty there that this isn’t going to make any difference; it’s trivial,’” she remembers. “But it wasn’t.” Now the body of research that she and other academics have built has become a favorite point of reference for universal basic income advocates, providing some of the most compelling evidence yet of the positive effects of bestowing unconditional sums of cash on the poor.
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Other researchers have used Costello’s data to look at different effects of the casino payments. One fear about basic income is that people will be content living on their subsidies and stop working. But a 2010 analysis of the data, led by Randall Akee, who researches public policy at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs, found no impact on overall labor participation.
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Akee also looked at the effects of the money on education and found that more money in the household meant children stayed in school longer. The impact on crime was just as profound: A $4,000 increase in household income reduced the poorest kids’ chances of committing a minor crime by 22 percent.
Still, if anything is to be learned from the Cherokee experiment, it’s this: To imagine that a basic income, or something like it, would suddenly satisfy the disillusioned, out-of-work Rust Belt worker is as wrongheaded as imagining it would do no good at all, or drive people to stop working. There is a third possibility: that an infusion of cash into struggling households would lift up the youth in those households in all the subtle but still meaningful ways Costello has observed over the years, until finally, when they come of age, they are better prepared for the brave new world of work, whether the robots are coming or not.
Originally shared by Jim Feig
Free Money: The Surprising Effects of a Basic Income Supplied by Government https://www.wired.com/story/free-money-the-surprising-effects-of-a-basic-income-supplied-by-government/ -via Flynx
https://www.wired.com/story/free-money-the-surprising-effects-of-a-basic-income-supplied-by-government
H/T Gideon Rosenblatt
The answer defied Costello’s initial hypothesis. “I thought, ‘There’s such a pit of poverty there that this isn’t going to make any difference; it’s trivial,’” she remembers. “But it wasn’t.” Now the body of research that she and other academics have built has become a favorite point of reference for universal basic income advocates, providing some of the most compelling evidence yet of the positive effects of bestowing unconditional sums of cash on the poor.
....
Other researchers have used Costello’s data to look at different effects of the casino payments. One fear about basic income is that people will be content living on their subsidies and stop working. But a 2010 analysis of the data, led by Randall Akee, who researches public policy at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs, found no impact on overall labor participation.
...
Akee also looked at the effects of the money on education and found that more money in the household meant children stayed in school longer. The impact on crime was just as profound: A $4,000 increase in household income reduced the poorest kids’ chances of committing a minor crime by 22 percent.
Still, if anything is to be learned from the Cherokee experiment, it’s this: To imagine that a basic income, or something like it, would suddenly satisfy the disillusioned, out-of-work Rust Belt worker is as wrongheaded as imagining it would do no good at all, or drive people to stop working. There is a third possibility: that an infusion of cash into struggling households would lift up the youth in those households in all the subtle but still meaningful ways Costello has observed over the years, until finally, when they come of age, they are better prepared for the brave new world of work, whether the robots are coming or not.
Originally shared by Jim Feig
Free Money: The Surprising Effects of a Basic Income Supplied by Government https://www.wired.com/story/free-money-the-surprising-effects-of-a-basic-income-supplied-by-government/ -via Flynx
https://www.wired.com/story/free-money-the-surprising-effects-of-a-basic-income-supplied-by-government
I would not support such a program if it didn't COMPLETELY replace social security, Medicaid, Medicare and food stamps. I would not support such a program if there were limited conditions on who received the funds i.e. no class/race/ethnicity warfare. The exceptions should be that they be born citizens (should not be an attraction for illegal aliens) and never incarcerated for violent crimes or currently incarcerated for any purpose (these people have cost society enough already).
ReplyDeleteI would only support the program if the amount is forever limited to 1/16th of the nations GDP per capita for the previous year (about $3600 last year).
As much as I respect Elon Musk, I do not believe that the robot revolution will affect negatively the average income of the people. I support his hypothesis to the point that strong AI could be catastrophic for humanity but that is as far as I am willing to go with him. History has shown that automation and innovation in manufacturing have positively affected income and hasn't hurt employment rates. There is no credible evidence to show us that this revolution (should it happen, I think it has a good chance) would make everyone unemployable as he stated.
I have a feeling that a UBI would stifle charity and general human goodwill.