[zip1234]

I'm totally onboard with UBI if it is actually needed. The problem is people PROJECTING that it will be needed. In the current world human labor is very much in demand. Maybe people won't be able to use the specific degree that they went to school for but that just means a bit of retraining and/or a bit of mindset shift. If there is a massive outflux of jobs in America, then there are many questions that need to be answered before even approaching UBI as a solution. For example, "are all countries suffering the same job losses? If not, then why not?"

[rhino369]

And even if they are right that we are less than a decade away from a sharp permanent decline in employment, it's still too soon for this kind of political change.

You couldn't get the new deal passed during the roaring 20's. Society has to actually realize that the old way no longer works. Radical change never happens without a great need already being present.

And we can't even really begin to guess how our society would be altered by this. Trying to predict the issue and fix them seems folly.

[TheAdamAndChe]

> In the current world human labor is very much in demand.

If this were the case, wages would be rising. Supply and demand is what kept unions around in the 60s, there was enough demand for labor that they could demand higher wages and better treatment. Now due to globalization and other things, the return on labor is incredibly low and still declining.

[zip1234]

Wages are rising significantly in the China, India, etc and are catching up. Nobody really knows what will happen once all of the labor that is extremely cheap now is not as cheap. We can conjecture that their will be some upheaval, but nobody really knows what the effects will be.

[TheAdamAndChe]

Wages are rising for them regionally, but the return on labor is lower than it was before. Previously, a laborer working 9-5 could afford a middle class life with a house, car, and nuclear family. Can a laborer in India or China afford that now? I doubt it.

[zip1234]

Well no, a laborer in India and China cannot afford that now but more people have come out of poverty in the last 20 years than any 20 year period in history. http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-bill...

[TheAdamAndChe]

That is great, a true testament to the wealth-creating power of globalization, but it doesn't change the fact that the return on labor is significantly lower than it used to be.