Sunday, October 11, 2015

Jonathan Coppage — The terrible cost of universal basic income


Backdoor argument for a JG by implication rather than mention. But the rationale is there.

And, no, the "terrible cost" is not inflation. Jonathan Coppage | Associate Editor

4 comments:

Dan Lynch said...

Where to begin?

-- author works for a conservative rag.

-- Hakek's "a certain minimum income for everyone, or a sort of floor below which nobody need fall" sounds more like a means-tested BIG than a UBI.

-- the capitalist marketplace does not bind people together, as the author asserts. To the contrary, competition pits people against each other.

-- "a basic income would tie every American directly back to Washington." This is the heart of the matter, the conservatives pet peeve -- that poor people might actually vote for politicians who do things to help the poor.

There are legitimate beefs with a UBI -- cost, incentives, and the possibility that the UBI would become a defacto subsidy to employers -- but it's incredulous to claim that social programs destroy the alleged warm fuzzy feelings created by the competitive marketplace.

Just my 2 cents. :-)

BTW, Tom, did you read that the UK has authorized its pilots to fire on Russian jets in Syria? Anonymous sources, so who knows if it's true and more likely saber rattling, but insane nonetheless.

Tom Hickey said...

According to Saker, Russia hasn't moved in ground to air defense or fighters since neither ISIS or AQ have air capability, demonstrating no intention to engage in the air. If that is true and the UK announcement is, too, then it seems that they are being aggressive. Russia has asked for clarification.

But it looks more like the US and NATO are coordinating air ops to avoid confrontation.

According to analysts like Saker, the three Russian incursions into Turkish airspace were neither mistakes as claimed, nor challenges to NATO, but rather a signal to Erdogan to back away from harassing the Kurds in Syria while supporting ISIS. That's right, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are supporting ISIS. They are all US allies and Turkey is a NATO member.

The region is a snake pit.

Tom Hickey said...

More from ZH

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-11/moscow-demands-britain-explain-green-light-shoot-down-russian-jets

Ralph Musgrave said...

"...the UK has authorized its pilots to fire on Russian jets in Syria..". As UK citizen I'm not sure whose side I'm on there..:-)