Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by zentiggr 2936 days ago
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.
1 comments
jsoc815 2934 days ago
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...

link
zentiggr 2932 days ago
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.

link
jsoc815 2929 days ago
> 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

link