[mytailorisrich]

The summary in the link means nothing as it does not address the key points:

What is meant by "unconditional universal basic income"? How much would it be? How would it be financed? What are the expected effects? Why would that be 'better' than the existing welfare state schemes in the various EU countries?

These are too often not described when discussing UBI or discussed without much facts or data.

[js8]

It's just a petition. If it succeeds, the only thing EU has to do is to discuss it, and these things can be discussed.

Personally, I would like UBI to be tied to GDP per capita, like say 10% of the GDP would be redistributed to every person. It would help to solve the wealth and income inequality problem that causes huge misallocation of resources (for example, EU has twice as many empty apartments than it has homeless people).

IMHO, it is generally better than welfare because it is less overhead and less patronizing. It should replace a portion of existing welfare system. (Things like pensions are often considered welfare but they are really not.)

[Aqua]

So you're advocating for stealing these empty apartments from their owners and giving them to the poor, obviously, for free?

[js8]

No, I am just pointing out that there is a resource misallocation, and people don't have to suffer poverty.

And I also think that people simply deserve some equity (large portion of total economic assets in our society was created by our ancestors), just by virtue of being part of the society. UBI is just a dividend from that equity.

[username90]

Do empty apartments incentivize creativity and innovation? No, there is no reason to accommodate them, anyone who makes money by making life worse for others should expect society to take their stuff sooner or later.

[Aqua]

Alright, and who is going to invest and build future apartments if there will be a high risk their properties will then be confiscated for "the greater good"?

[username90]

It wont get confiscated if they just rent it out or sell it, it just prevents them from creating artificial scarcity by sitting on perfectly fine homes hoping prices will go up in the future.

[sofixa]

Is it "stealing" if its something unused and actually needed for basic life and decency by other people?

[Aqua]

Unless you want to redefine the word "stealing" it totally is.

[scotty79]

I'd just progressively tax them so that it's more economical to sell those empty apartments then to hoard them, which is currently incentivised. I know. I own 3 apartments not used for anything and keeping them off the market costs me less than single minimum wage.

I'm sorry for that. I intend to fix them up and rent them eventually. I just can't get my self around to actually doing it recently.