Universal Basic Income Revisited

The idea of a universal basic income, or UBI, dates back to Thomas Paine (1797), and has interested thinkers as diverse as Huey Long, Milton Friedman, Martin Luther King and Richard.  It is getting another look today, due to the fact that our current social safety net isn't capable of dealing with the challenges of today.

The basics of UBI are simple.  Everyone gets a check, guaranteed, whether they're employed or not.  No one has to qualify, pass a drug test, look for work, etc.  It's unconditional cash.  The Bay Area is a hotbed of UBI thinking, and a pilot program aimed at providing as many as 1,000 residents of Oakland with a guaranteed income, that can effect their lifestyle (work, education, child-rearing), is being looked at.  Elon Musk told CNBC news "I think that there's a pretty good chance we end up with UBI or something like that due to automation.  Guaranteed income would give people time to do other things and more complex things, more interestings."  San Francisco is also exploring the possibility of a pilot program.

Other programs are further along.  Finland launched a three year test providing monthly checks worth 560 euros, to 2,000 unemployed workers.  They'll give up their government benefits in return, but will still receive the checks if they get jobs.  Utrecht, in Holland, has started a two year pilot program awarading $1,100 a month.  Ontario in Canada has launched a project giving $13,000 per year to 4,000 randomly chosen residents in three provinces.

UBI attracts adherents across the ideological spectrum.  Conservatives like it because they think it can replace the web of social assistance programs, at a lower cost.  Progressives like it because they think it can be used to modernize the social safety net to accommodate the modern workplace.  A UBI gives people the flexibility to deal with changes in the labor market.  It's too early to say how it will play out.  UBI is either a bubble or a movement.  The question is whether it sticks, and whether anyone has a better idea.