[Tichy]

I know, it isn't really working :-) But I think most beggars are probably mentally deranged, so that they are incapable of receiving the benefits.

Also there are now proposals to pay a base income to everyone, without fuss, but it is doubtful if it will ever be implemented. And nobody knows what would be the effect.

[ryanwaggoner]

Really? No one knows what the effect would be of paying people a base income regardless of whether or not they work? I think we've seen ample evidence over the last century of exactly what the effect would be.

[SilasX]

Where? Most of the programs you probably have in mind stop paying you once you stop doing irresponsible crap. That has fundamentally different incentive effects than a guaranteed income that pays irrespective how responsible you are or how much you work. For example it would not impose a high effective marginal tax rate on those who work a part-time job (like unemployment benefits or welfare do).

Its effect would be more like that of Social Security (with untaxed benefits, and judged purely from the standpoint of post-retirement).

[Tichy]

What are you referring to? Personally I think unchecked population growth might be a result, but it isn't certain. Or maybe the base income would just cancel out (all goods would become so much more expensive that the base income would have little effect).

Also some say that the social security in Germany is in fact equivalent to a base income.

Communism, if you mean that, is something completely different.