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Funding UBI through "printing" money would cause inflation because that increases the money supply. But most UBI proponents plan to fund it through new taxes an
by CrazyDave 6y ago
Funding UBI through "printing" money would cause inflation because that increases the money supply.
But most UBI proponents plan to fund it through new taxes and consolidation of the current "means based" welfare programs.
- ChuckNorris89 6y agoOk, and who/what will you tax for the extra UBI money? Can't tax the corporations and the rich or else they will "move elsewhere and increase unemployment" as we're made to believe so why then do I fear that the middle class worker will be hit yet again? I'd rather we lower taxes on the workforce than increase them to give away free money.
- akie 6y agoIncrease taxes on wealthy people and give it to poorer people so that almost everyone is better off. How is this a bad idea again?
- blueterminal 6y agoIt is a great idea but seemingly impossible to implement successfully. Has it ever been successful?
- adrianN 6y agoThere are various taxes that work that way. Depending on how high they are (and how high the taxes that work in the opposite way are) it works better or worse. The difference between rich and poor is not the same everywhere on the planet.
- _Understated_ 6y agoHow do you define "wealthy"?
- adrianN 6y agoPeople who make more than the median.
- AdrianB1 6y agoThen rape the women and molest the children in the process, then kill them all when you're done; it is as moral as your proposal, just finishing the sentence. "How is this a bad idea again", you say?
- dang 6y agoWould you please stop posting ideological flamebait to HN? We've asked you before, and you've done it twice in the last 24 hours. Not cool. The GP comment wasn't great either but this was much worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- AdrianB1 6y agoSorry, it is not by intention, probably cultural difference interpreting the same words in different ways. What is the second comment that looks out of line?
- dang 6y agoI forget which one I had in mind, but it was probably https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24259070 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24259070.
- drran 6y agoWhy not to increase taxes on poorer people and give it to wealthy people, so that almost everyone is better off? How this is a bad idea again?
- CrazyDave 6y agoFor simpler math, lets assume someone makes $10k per month pre-tax. Their tax rate would increase by roughly 10%, and they would receive a $1,000 check in the mail. The net cost (and benefit) for most people could be 0. Well, why do UBI at all? I think the goal is to simplify our means based well fare system, which can create some economically inefficient incentives. For example, imagine someone receiving disability checks who could go back to work. Going back to work would mean they stop receiving disability checks, and they could easily end up reducing their income.
- drran 6y ago> Well, why do UBI at all? Well, later it's possible to vote for a candidate, which promise to reduce taxes by 3x and increase UBI by 3x, like at Alaska: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/9/5/20849020/alaska-permanent-fund-universal-basic-income https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/9/5/20849020/alaska-...
- blueterminal 6y agoThere are 209,128,094 people over 18 in US. Let's assume $1,000/month UBI. It would mean we need to get $209128094000 (~ $210B) a month ($2.5T a year) from somewhere. Where would we get it from? Are there any extensive papers explaining it? I'm super curious.
- truthwhisperer 6y agoNo, no please not ask that question. You have to think inclusive. UBI will solve all the problems and who is going to pay is not relevant
- csunbird 6y agoWhich means the productive members of the society will be paying even more taxes, just to feed off people that think living of the UBI is good enough for them, if the UBI is not funded through the printing of the money. How is that fair to working people with ambitions?
- imtringued 6y agoWhat about unemployed people with ambitions?
- drran 6y agoThey can start their own business.