In the short term, inflation does happen. This is because the economic allocations were done according to the old distribution of incomes, which is to say disproportionately benefiting the desires of the rich. Demand changes while supply remains the same.
So lower-income housing landlords do raise their rents. Grocery stores raise prices on their beef. Low-end used cars get more expensive. More dollars chase the same quantity of goods and services.
But basic income continues into the long run. It becomes a business opportunity to undercut those inflated prices, to capture more of the basic income flow for yourself. An entrepreneur builds lower-income housing and charges lower than the prevailing rents, immediately poaching business from the opportunist landlords, who now have to compete with one another to keep tenants.
As additional competitors enter the market, the economic allocations change to match the newer distribution of incomes. More businesses that serve lower-income people become viable, so more economic activity occurs to cater to that sector. Fewer businesses that serve higher-income people remain viable, because they are taxed more. It slowly becomes more expensive to be rich, and less expensive to be poor.
In the long run, wealth distribution flattens and is less self-reinforcing. More than a few people would be willing to walk a higher wire if they were given a stronger safety net, choosing risky entrepreneurship rather than safer employment. Prices only remain high if existing businesses are protected from competition.
This is easily the best response I've seen to all of my questions, but it is all extremely optimistic and untested. There are always unforseen side effects whenever you steer the market in new ways.
I would strongly urge that we carry out smaller scale experiments / split tests before anyone commits nationwide.
I envision a deepening of the social divide, as the uneducated and unskilled further separate from the educated. Within very few generations you would be left with an unrecognizable society.
Everyone here is looking at it from the lens of the intelligent hopeful tech entrepreneur. That's lovely, but we are the extreme minority.
I'd say it's overly optimistic. If all you do is drop cash from helicopters, it is entirely possible that there is never enough of a sense of economic security to encourage the increased small business starts needed to reach a new equilibrium. That's why I don't think that UBI would work unless some of the benefit were supplied as basic goods and services rather than cash.
At minimum, the UBI provider would have to supply food, water, housing, sanitation, electricity, and network, along with the cash. Otherwise, between those necessities, incumbent suppliers could capture all the excess cash and send it right back to the owners.
So lower-income housing landlords do raise their rents. Grocery stores raise prices on their beef. Low-end used cars get more expensive. More dollars chase the same quantity of goods and services.
But basic income continues into the long run. It becomes a business opportunity to undercut those inflated prices, to capture more of the basic income flow for yourself. An entrepreneur builds lower-income housing and charges lower than the prevailing rents, immediately poaching business from the opportunist landlords, who now have to compete with one another to keep tenants.
As additional competitors enter the market, the economic allocations change to match the newer distribution of incomes. More businesses that serve lower-income people become viable, so more economic activity occurs to cater to that sector. Fewer businesses that serve higher-income people remain viable, because they are taxed more. It slowly becomes more expensive to be rich, and less expensive to be poor.
In the long run, wealth distribution flattens and is less self-reinforcing. More than a few people would be willing to walk a higher wire if they were given a stronger safety net, choosing risky entrepreneurship rather than safer employment. Prices only remain high if existing businesses are protected from competition.