[jingleheimer]

The great depression, which was a period of high unemployment, was still fresh in the minds of many during the 1950s. The theory of the time was that WWII is what fixed the economy. Many people sat in many rooms trying to figure out how to achieve the 'wealth' effect of war without all of the destruction. Creating useless jobs was a common idea.

[zentiggr]

Let's finish that thought process, roll out UBI, and generally let people figure out what they can do outside of those space filling WPA jobs.

Everyone not beholden to a company for their living wage now gets off the treadmill of "keep employed" for its own sake.

[jsoc815]

Let's finish that thought process, roll out UBI...

I've never quite understood how UBI fixes the 'problem'. Can you (someone) explain why current prices wouldn't simply adjust to reflect the introduction of the 'helicopter money'? Isn't this the very issue found w/ exploding U.S. tertiary education costs?

Thanks...

[zentiggr]

Close cousins to the "bullshit" jobs in the OP are the "gotta" jobs that no one really chooses to do but they have to earn money to live on.

UBI is a compelling way to get lots of people out of that "gotta" hole and enable a much wider range of options and opportunities. Perhaps not a complete fix but certainly a helpful step.

[jsoc815]

> UBI is a compelling way to get lots of people out of that "gotta" hole

Right, can you say more about why this is "compelling"? What I'm pointing out is that the 'savvy' business people will likely view the introduction of the UBI money into the economy as a reason to raise/adjust prices, i.e. inflation.

Having spent (too) much time speaking w/economists and the occasional central banker, who regularly debate the merits of QE (effectively targeted at the asset-rich) vs. "helicopter money", I'm not sure that society wouldn't end up right where it is now based on what I mentioned above about the 'savvy' business people.

If you're interested, someone broached the 'UBI/helicopter money' issue w/ Bernanke a couple of weeks ago as part of a broader conversation. I've linked to the video in another thread.[1]

[1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17274399

[Uberphallus]

Creating useless jobs sounds like basic universal income with extra steps.