Indeed. For example, the parent's suggested scheme is equivalent to a $15k basic income, with a 25% tax on earned income up to $60k.
The only real difference between the two is the constants each framing leads us towards. The above scheme is fairly mild, but if you shrink the window down to $30k, which initially sounds progressive (less money for richer people right?) you actually end up with the equivalent of a 50% tax band on income below $30k.
I prefer the Basic Income framing for this reason.
Yes, you figured out why I picked the numbers I did. It's somewhat surprising how high the full phase-out amount has to be for things to work: It basically needs to go to several times the poverty level in order to make the marginal taxation on poor people of acceptably low levels.
The only real difference between the two is the constants each framing leads us towards. The above scheme is fairly mild, but if you shrink the window down to $30k, which initially sounds progressive (less money for richer people right?) you actually end up with the equivalent of a 50% tax band on income below $30k.
I prefer the Basic Income framing for this reason.