- Joined
- Dec 13, 2015
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Sighing for paradise to come
Excerpt:
I am also convinced that the measure would have a very large impact upon crime-rates in the US since a Basic-Income would at least cover subsistence costs, which often motivate crime. Of course, if anyone below the Poverty Threshold thinks they "deserve" a Cadillac to impress their neighbors, then they'd best see a psychiatrist.
"Keeping up with the Joneses" promises to remain a key Societal Factor in the US - but I continue to believe that only higher educational attainment (throughout a workers lifetime) will really-'n-truly have any meaningful impact upon assuring long-term well-paying jobs.
The rest of the civilized world is rushing ahead with free Tertiary Education, and we in the US are not ...
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Excerpt:
Arguments for a state stipend payable to all citizens are being heard more widely
The idea (of a public stipend) has a long pedigree, endorsed by great figures of the enlightenment such as the Marquis de Condorcet and Thomas Paine. Three centuries on, a handful of governments around the world, mostly in rich countries, are launching experimental basic-income programmes, or at least considering the idea. Finland will roll out a trial programme next year, in which some citizens will receive unconditional cash grants of up to €800 ($900) per month. Similar programmes are being mulled in several Dutch cities.
Unsurprisingly, ... Silicon Valley is interested, too. This is not, though, simply faddishness. The idea of a universal basic income has long been tied up with worries about accelerating technological change. The basic income, or “social credit” ... was born of the worry that technology was opening up a gap between total output and the income earned by workers.
As well as offering the possibility of a simpler and perhaps fairer welfare state, supporters of a universal basic income say it answers fears that paid work will break down as a mechanism for distributing purchasing power. In recent years, across many rich economies, the wages earned by the typical worker have grown pitifully slowly—and by less than GDP per person.
When manufacturing jobs that were the keystone to a regional economy move abroad, for example, people with few prospects look for alternative means of support, such as disability benefits. In most age groups in Britain the share of population claiming disability benefits is systematically and substantially above the level of the 1980s, despite efforts to control growth in disability-benefit costs. Since 1988, America’s disability payments have risen from one in ten of every social-security dollar spent to one in five. Those unable to find work or get on such programmes sink deeper into poverty.
A universal basic income might solve these problems. As Tobin argued, a flat basic-income payment eliminates the poverty trap. Since the benefit would not phase out, there would be no reduced incentive to seek additional work hours or income. Because it would be paid to all citizens, its advocates hope that it would enjoy the political support of an entitlement programme, and come to be seen as a right of citizenship. And it would clearly benefit people with no prospect of work, and thus most of those in extreme poverty.
I am also convinced that the measure would have a very large impact upon crime-rates in the US since a Basic-Income would at least cover subsistence costs, which often motivate crime. Of course, if anyone below the Poverty Threshold thinks they "deserve" a Cadillac to impress their neighbors, then they'd best see a psychiatrist.
"Keeping up with the Joneses" promises to remain a key Societal Factor in the US - but I continue to believe that only higher educational attainment (throughout a workers lifetime) will really-'n-truly have any meaningful impact upon assuring long-term well-paying jobs.
The rest of the civilized world is rushing ahead with free Tertiary Education, and we in the US are not ...
__________________________
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