Posted on 04/20/2016 2:16:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton spent a great deal of time debating the merits of raising the minimum wage at the last Democratic debate on April 14.
Sanders, ever the radical, stood behind the popular $15 minimum wage figure that will soon take hold in California and New York. Clinton, who's long pushed for $12, updated her position in support of $15 figure.
Both could be misguided.
While raising the minimum wage does make sense on paper — working people need to make more to survive than they can on today's minimum wage, so we should give them more money — mounting evidence suggests even a $15/hour wage isn't drastic enough. The smarter solution could be giving people enough money to live regardless of their working status.
That idea, known as universal basic income, has had a surge in popularity over the last year.
The Dutch city of Utrecht recently announced it would start a basic income experiment in 2017, as did Finland and Ontario, Canada. Talks are underway in Switzerland, New Zealand, and the US, and the largest basic income experiment in history is slated to launch later this year in Kenya.
Ostensibly, the goal of ensuring the basic welfare of citizens falls under the purview of the government. Trying to use the minimum wage to achieve that outcome puts pressure on smaller businesses that may cause them to lay people off. In that event, the minimum wage does more harm than good. Businesses lose staff, and citizens lose income.
By removing the work requirement, basic income skirts around the problem by giving money to people up front. It frees people up to pursue jobs that may not pay as much as they'd like, and it spares the employer from dealing with the burden of providing a wage it may not be able to sustain.
There's another wrinkle that makes basic income more valuable as time goes on: Workers may not be as useful in the future.
The latest evidence suggests automation could displace half the American workforce in the next two or three decades. That means millions of people could be out of work, or at least working for lower wages than they currently do.
With fewer employees, hitting a higher minimum wage might not be as hard for employers. But we'll still be left with unemployed people who need to survive. Basic income covers both groups — the employed and the displaced.
The upside is that productivity doesn't plummet under basic income; if anything, it tends to rise. Study after study has shown that people work harder when they know they have a safety net protecting them.
And that's good for businesses, which won't have to worry that minimum wage — a system designed to help workers — could end up tanking them in the process.
Basic income is the more effective solution because it gives employees reassurance they'll be able to put food on the table while giving employers peace of mind that they won't get crippled by their payroll.
Why just a basic income? Why not make everyone a millionaire, if we can just summon up endless free money to give away?
I always wondered how it was on Star Trek that they don’t have any money. Guess we’re about to find out.
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘If you don’t work you die.’
The the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tounged wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to belive it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four-—
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more
because they would give the surfs just enough to live on and the country might survive another 20 years until debt is 250 percent of GDP.
then they’ll take their billions and leave.
#uckerberg, the f....t CEO at apple, Ellison, they KNOW they’re better than us and we shouldn’t even breathe around them
they’re spending billions and BILLIONS on labs to discover immortality but I heard that doesn’t work so good in a nuke blast or if you get hit by a truck
Mr. Kipling is still relevant.
It will fly out of the butts of unicorns, of course.
I thought everyone knew that.
/s
“so we should give them more money”
So is this jerk paying the money? No, us working stiffs who create jobs get to pay for it. And we’re going under.
FU jerkwad.
You can rob Peter to pay Paul all day long. But in the end, all you end up with is a sore Peter.
Hello inflation.
I think the concept is unlikely to be effective due to human nature and the way markets work. However, I think it would be a big improvement if it replaced our current welfare system and minimum wage.
Our current system encourages all the wrong things. UBI would at least be fair if it was NOT means tested and was equally given to every CITIZEN.
But I believe it would have similar drawbacks as the current system: people who prefer to use drugs, not work, and resort to crime to get more than the handouts they have received.
Forget “universal income”
Nobody needs “income”. The government will provide everyone with the basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter, clothes and the gov will decide what work is everyone best suited for and they will be assigned that kind of job.
Welcome to communist utopia in the US.
Advances in robotics and automation appear to be headed toward putting a very large number of people permanently out of work. Like it or not, something along the lines of UBI would seem to be coming as a result, imho.
You know sometimes my cable TV goes out and then the reception on my cell phone cuts in and out. Can Bernie help with those problems? Some days my socks don’t match, will Hillary address that problem?
Payroll tax is 15.3%. Change the law so the entire tax, both employer and employee share, goes to the employee for those who make under 15/hr. This makes it simpler, cheaper for the employer. Win-win for employee, employer and customer.
At the same time, eliminate most or all EITC. Eliminate SSI Disability for most. Change the means test for other programs.
Not his pocket, that's for sure!
Wasn't that similar to the USSR?
IIRC they used to overproduce every year, exceeding goals. /SS
Ya. But the confiscation comes before it. Or maybe they’ll just devalue money and make it worthless.
What if they prove that they worked 40hrs/wk? Paycheck stubs. Any employer lying will get removed from the program and would have to pay a high wage up front.
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