Universal basic income (UBI) has supporters across the political spectrum. The idea is that if every citizen received a payment from the state to cover their living costs, it this will allow them the freedom to live as they choose.
But voters who turned down a UBI pilot in a recent referendum in the German city of Hamburg apparently found something to dislike. A frequent argument against UBI is that recipients will decide to work less. This in turn will make labour (and consequently labour-intensive products) more expensive.
Indeed, a recent study on a UBI experiment has found that recipients of an unconditional monthly transfer of US$1,000 (£760) were significantly less likely to work. And if they did work, they put in fewer hours than a control group who received only US$50 per month.
People say the same of giving people a living wage. If we can’t do good things because bad actors will take advantage of it, the solution is not to stop doing good things but to punish the bad actors.
I just wish that any regulators had the fortitude to actually enforce anything to protect the common citizenry. I won’t hold my breath though, I don’t have enough capital to pay them off.