Unfortunately, Universal Basic Income Would Probably Fail
Unless major economic and systemic reform comes with it to create a sustainable policy
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the idea that everyone (universal) gets a continuous and recurring (income) sum of money that allows them to afford essential individual needs (basic).
Even though the amounts range from smaller sums of $500 per month to Andrew Yang’s proposed Freedom Dividend of $1,000 per month, the concept stays consistent.
If you fall within the correct age range and are a citizen or resident of a country, you get a monthly sum that will allow you to live an extremely basic life.
Sounds amazing right?
Money is distributed to ensure that even the poorest individuals in society can afford basic needs.
And this general idea has been around for a long time. In the 20th century, the libertarian economist, Milton Friedman, was the one who popularized the idea. Even Martin Luther King Jr. endorsed the idea of a “guaranteed income”.
“I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” — Martin Luther…
