The Implications of a Universal Basic Income

When it comes to universal basic income (UBI), a concept where the government “would give each person a minimum monthly sum regardless of circumstances or need,” it may seem impractical but really is dependent on the scale at which this is implemented; whether it be a city, state, country, etc. The article I read about posited that there are already steps to implement a UBI in places such as Alaska and Iran where they are reported to be successful; money is being granted to these people while working hours have remained constant. In other words, it is evidenced that a UBI does not disincentivize people from working and overall does not lead to a reduction in terms of their respective productivity. Statistically speaking, there has been a general increase in life satisfaction and mental health, while not negatively affecting employment and productivity. While this is great that improvement of life is the general trend, this is only a pattern recognized on a smaller scale and when it comes to larger countries, it is more difficult to execute a UBI without a form of a tradeoff. Although the United States boasts, the highest GDP and a relatively high GDP per capita, indicators of general economic growth, it is still difficult to integrate a UBI in the face of such a large population. According to the second article, it would cost the federal government “between $2 and 4 trillion a year, amounting to a 50% increase in current federal outlays or more than 10% of last year’s GDP.” 10% of the GDP is a significant amount of money allocated towards a UBI and results in a higher taxpayer burden, increasing government debt, as well as attention away from other priorities such as infrastructure refurbishment. The implications of these effects result in a general decrease in productive incentives that lower the productivity of the economy in both the private and public sectors. Proponents of a UBI have not proposed a practical method to alleviate these burdens, each of which would have a negative long-term effect on economic growth. While a UBI is something that I believe can shape the lives of many people, it has to first be practical for each respective country, state, and city to do so.