[iamthemonster]

As is often the case in economics, the scarcity is not an absolute lack of resources, but a result of inefficient allocation.

The world's mean income is about $18000 adjusted for purchasing power parity so it's not a complete stretch to get to $2000 per month for the whole world https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17512040

The USA has a mean income of about $72,000 so in theory UBI could be $6000/mo without bankrupting the country.

It would be very interesting to see what kind of crazy spending-led boom you could achieve by redistributing wealth exactly evenly across every American citizen.

[kortilla]

The mean income has no relevance on how much UBI can be issued.

[iamthemonster]

I don't understand what you mean by this. UBI redistributes income - wouldn't it obviously be funded via taxation? USA would be able to afford a much higher UBI than Sierra Leone would because US income is higher. What determines how much UBI can be issued if aggregate income is irrelevant?

[kortilla]

If you fund by a 100% income tax, everyone would quit instantly. There would literally be no point in working for money. UBI cannot be funded by the thing UBI would eliminate.