Branson wants UBI

[Pauls' Revere]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/02/virg...ic-income.html

"With the acceleration of [artificial intelligence] and other new technology ... the world is changing fast," Branson wrote on his blog in August.

"A lot of exciting new innovations are going to be created, which will generate a lot of opportunities and a lot of wealth, but there is a real danger it could also reduce the amount of jobs," he said.

"This will make experimenting with ideas like basic income even more important in the years to come."

A report from the McKinsey Global Institute confirms the idea that automation will cause major disruption to the job market globally. By 2030, 75 million workers around the globe will need to change occupational category due to automation, according to the December 2017 study, and 400 million jobs could be potentially displaced. The McKinsey Global estimates are based on analysis of 46 countries that include 90 percent of global gross domestic product and a mid level pace of adoption of automation.


So, lets say they hand out $1000 / month to everyone. Guess how much my rent is going to jump? Guess how much the price of bread will jump? Gas? Taxes?

[phill4paul]

I'll take a $1000 dollar check from him each month. No strings attached. How many others like me would it take to break him?

[AngryCanadian]

Ah yes friend of Obama.

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

It's time to resurrect the idea of a negative income tax to replace the current welfare state. Abolishing welfare is a fantasy. Industrial countries are welfare states, there doesn't seem to be any way around that. The welfare state will be ended at the exact same time the state itself collapses. We have to start thinking about alternatives that have recalibrated incentives that are less deleterious that can be sold under a populist banner. "Get rid of all of it" is not a viable political position.

[CaptUSA]

I'd be ok with a UBI if it replaced all other forms of welfare and social services. Milton Friedman suggested as much. Not that it would be good - only that it'd be better than the current alternative.

But that's not what they're talking about. They want a UBI on top of everything else!

[EBounding]

Why do we need income if AI will just do everything humans don’t want to do?

[Anti Federalist]

Money is not going to replace the hard wired brain of human beings that equates a man's worth by the work he does.

We are rushing headfirst into a future in which humanity is superfluous and unneeded.

Being unneeded will lead to misery...welfare ghettos on a global scale.

Hopefully enough people will step up to throttle this back...but I am doubtful.

The future is fail.

[Original_Intent]

It's productivity that creates wealth, not a printing press.

I think UBI is a better option than the current welfare system, so if it is being offered as a replacement and not an add-on, it could be a move in the right direction.
The concept is as misguided as minimum wages, and for the same reasons.

[nobody's_hero]

So, lets say they hand out $1000 / month to everyone. Guess how much my rent is going to jump? Guess how much the price of bread will jump? Gas? Taxes?

I still can't wrap my head around it, either. Seems like the consequences would be the same as raising minimum wage. If you pay someone money for doing nothing, it actually seems like it would be WORSE than paying them more than they're worth.

[Madison320]

I'd be ok with a UBI if it replaced all other forms of welfare and social services. Milton Friedman suggested as much. Not that it would be good - only that it'd be better than the current alternative.

But that's not what they're talking about. They want a UBI on top of everything else!

I agree. The problem is that for UBI to be affordable the amount for each person would be so low that it wouldn't be near enough to survive on. It would just be a supplement. For it to be enough to replace other welfare it would be more than double our current tax revenue, like 8-10 trillion a year.

[Pauls' Revere]

I still can't wrap my head around it, either. Seems like the consequences would be the same as raising minimum wage. If you pay someone money for doing nothing, it actually seems like it would be WORSE than paying them more than they're worth.

Its gotta be a scam to buy votes, nothing more.