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by AnimalMuppet 3415 days ago
Yes and no. Say I'm a billionaire (I wish). I've got all this money. It's not going into food and rent. (OK, a tiny amount is going into food, but I can only eat three meals a day. And "rent" is more likely buying multi-million-dollar homes.) My money's in investments, maybe some luxuries.

Now we go to BI. Now millions of what used to be my money are going to low-income people. They're spending it on food and rent. No, it's not new money, but it's new to the rent market in whatever city. Will that tend to drive rents up? I think so, yes.
2 comments
flukus 3414 days ago
The free market is a tool, a really good one, but just a tool. If it stops producing desirable outcomes then we can use other tools.

Most nations have government housing which serves not just to house the poorest but to put a cap on how much people in the next rung up of society are willing to pay for housing.

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sokoloff 3415 days ago
Absolutely. If I can find some inside track that UBI is coming, I'll be buying a lot of low-end rental property, hopefully before it runs up.
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blurbleblurble 3414 days ago
It's like a game of Monopoly where everyone gets more money, including the people who already have Board Walk and Park Place, etc. #WWJD? Flip the board over. Jubilee.
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sokoloff 3414 days ago
UBI doesn't have that property at all. UBI consciously, intentionally, and overtly transfers money from the net taxpayers to the net benefit receivers. (I support it, but it's absolutely an income transfer mechanism from the higher income to the lower income populations.)

The fact that the "rich" also receive $650/mo in UBI is completely swamped by the fact that they'll pay $30K/month or more in income tax to fund the program.

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gnaritas 3414 days ago
> It's like a game of Monopoly where everyone gets more money,

No it isn't, not even remotely.

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