Since this seems to be focussed on the US economy, can someone (...anyone), explain how a country that is many tens of trillions of dollars in debt can afford to pay a UBI in lieu of buying down national debt?
It feels like someone who can't pay their home mortgage deciding to make a donation to a favorite charity.
There's an assumption there that buying down the national debt is an important goal. Reasons that one might not want to take that position:
* Having debt helps keep a currency useful as a global reserve and store of value, with great soft-power benefits (though, honestly, the reverse is more true--being the reserve currency makes running up a debt easier).
* Having debt helps keep us out of capital-W War, as it binds nations together financially--if we owe another country a sufficient amount, they have a vested interest in seeing it come back. (Incidentally, historically, this is a shaky assumption as well.)
* Having a policy allowing for debt helps make re-investment in infrastructure and civilization-scale efforts more easy to accomplish.
* Having a debt helps encourage inflationary currency policy, which (in moderation!) has knock-on stimulatory effects on the economy. Some minor inflation is good for helping to encourage people to spend rather than hoard.
The more cynical take, of course, is: how can we not afford to pay UBI?
* Is it cheaper to remove, retrain, or simply resupply folks who are otherwise economic unproductive?
* Is it politically expedient to buy off the population whose only useful product is votes than to balance the budget?
* People are upset about work and making rent today...creditors of the US are some distant threat, and it's unlikely any politician will be in-office when that bill comes due--why hold off?
* We've spent more money on dumber things, what's wrong with this?
I don't exactly agree with any of the above points (in either category), but it's not hard to imagine people who do.
Since this seems to be focussed on the US economy, can someone (...anyone), explain how a country that is many tens of trillions of dollars in debt can afford to pay a UBI in lieu of buying down national debt?
It feels like someone who can't pay their home mortgage deciding to make a donation to a favorite charity.
There's an assumption there that buying down the national debt is an important goal. Reasons that one might not want to take that position:
* Having debt helps keep a currency useful as a global reserve and store of value, with great soft-power benefits (though, honestly, the reverse is more true--being the reserve currency makes running up a debt easier).
* Having debt helps keep us out of capital-W War, as it binds nations together financially--if we owe another country a sufficient amount, they have a vested interest in seeing it come back. (Incidentally, historically, this is a shaky assumption as well.)
* Having a policy allowing for debt helps make re-investment in infrastructure and civilization-scale efforts more easy to accomplish.
* Having a debt helps encourage inflationary currency policy, which (in moderation!) has knock-on stimulatory effects on the economy. Some minor inflation is good for helping to encourage people to spend rather than hoard.
The more cynical take, of course, is: how can we not afford to pay UBI?
* Is it cheaper to remove, retrain, or simply resupply folks who are otherwise economic unproductive?
* Is it politically expedient to buy off the population whose only useful product is votes than to balance the budget?
* People are upset about work and making rent today...creditors of the US are some distant threat, and it's unlikely any politician will be in-office when that bill comes due--why hold off?
* We've spent more money on dumber things, what's wrong with this?
I don't exactly agree with any of the above points (in either category), but it's not hard to imagine people who do.