Universal Basic Income (UBI), whereby people are given free money just for being a warm body, has often been heralded as an economic panacea. While some such as the laudable Milton Friedman supported negative income tax or replacing welfare programs run by the government with a check the recipient was free to decide how to spend, others look to it as the beginning of a “purple wage”.
An undertaking to demonstrate the benefits of UBI has been undertaken and the results do not paint such a rosy picture.
A lot happened in July.
But, one event went quietly unnoticed.
The result of largest American controlled experiment in Universal Basic Income (UBI) was released.
You haven’t heard about it because the findings are terrifyingly bad. (1/12) pic.twitter.com/Q4NMtF5niQ
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
It was funded by the founders of ChatGPT, presumably to mitigate the potential job losses anticipated through AI and AGI. (2/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
1,100 randomized households making under $29,900 were given $1,000 per month for three years. Essentially, their income increased by 40%. The UBI participants lived in urban, suburban and rural towns in Texas and Illinois. (3/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Result 1: UBI participants ended up earning $1,500 less despite being given $12,000 more annually. For every one dollar received, total household income dropped by at least 21 cents. (4/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
It gets worse…
Result 2: UBI participants stayed unemployed for an extra month compared to those unemployed in the control group. (5/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Result 3: UBI participants worked less and there were no substantive changes in quality of employment. UBI participants did little to improve their education or training to improve their income. (6/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Result 4: UBI participants self-reported increased rates of disability to limit the work they can do. (7/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Two ways to look at these results. (8/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
The American Underclass is so worn down that when thrown a life preserver, they could only float rather than paddle to safety. UBI advocates will argue that $1,000 per month wasn’t enough. (9/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Or, Universal Basic Income and its collectivist derivatives are never enough. Work is intrinsically tied to human dignity, happiness and progress. (10/12)
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
In other words, according to Ronald Reagan when he accepted the 1980 GOP Nomination. (11/12) pic.twitter.com/iHuvGOtzRZ
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
Read the study for yourself and draw your own conclusions. (12/12)https://t.co/2XGxaj6M1W
— Athan Koutsiouroumbas (@Athan_K) August 2, 2024
The full text of the report can be read here or below:
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