Basic Income

It is my personal belief that a form of universal basic income should be implemented. The United States spent 361.9 billion on welfare in 2015, of this 35 Billion went to unemployment, and another 279 Billion in Family assistance programs. I am not saying people should not work, nor that there should not be a minimum wage, instead I am saying that by providing everyone over the age of 18 with just 100 dollars a week, or 5,200 a year that we can not only supplement citizens existing income, but potentially reduce funding to social welfare programs for individuals without dependents who would otherwise struggle to pay the bills. The living wage in Ohio for one adult is $8.27 an hour for a single individual and $17.62 an hour for a family of four. The minimum wage in Ohio is 7.30 an hour. To the rich, or even the moderately well of $100 is chump change, the cost of a few meals, but to those who struggle to make ends meet it would be the difference between going hungry for the day or not.

The question would shift from why should we do this to “how would we pay for it?” For that answer one needs to look at where existing flows of revenue go. It is estimated that in the United States there are 245 Million people over the age of 18. This means that the dollar figure to implement this is 1.3 Trillion a year. this may sound like a lot, but by adopting a basic supplemental income it is then possible to cut out 200 Billion in other cash assistance programs. The remaining would be covered through increased economic growth and associated corporate taxes. The Government during the bailouts of 2008-2011 committed 12.2 Trillion on failing companies to keep them solvent. If the Government can dole out 12.2 Trillion dollars to failing companies shouldn’t it be able to afford 1/12 of that to give the poorest a living wage?

In addition if young adults had access to a supplemental income it would not only make higher education affordable, but also promote future financial independence from their parents thereby reducing the number of Millennials and future generations who live with their parents at 20-30 years old. Counter to popular opinions it has been found that when individuals are provided direct cash instead of earmarked funds they use the money to better their children and food. It is not that people do not want a better life it is that they can not afford one.

After reading the post about GapMinder org I…

After reading the post about GapMinder.org I did some digging and since the 1990’s when the majority of the free trade agreements were passed the GDP of the United States has stagnated. Over a 20 year period from 1990 to 2010 the GDP of the USA has roughly doubled. In comparison, during that same time period the GDP of China has increased by a factor of 5. The thing is though, the GDP of both countries are similar. What is even more crazy is that in 1980 the US GDP was 3 times the size of our nearest competitors, Russia and Japan. Now don’t get me wrong Russia did suffer the collapse of the Soviet Union, but that is no excuse for America to have stopped being the economic leader of the world, It is time to make America great again.

After reading the post about The Bottom…

After reading the post about ” The Bottom Billion” it got me thinking about what it means to be poor in an impoverished country, and for me it means that many of the basic necessities are not met. Professor Paul Collier talks about how there are four failing points which prevent a poor nation from developing. The biggest of his “traps” as he calls them is the natural resource one. In this case a country with many natural resources is stopped from utilizing them efficiently. As a member of a developed nation though what could I do to influence governmental policies of those nations to utilize the new income better. Surprisingly Professor Paul Collier had also wondered about this too and came up with the idea that there needed to be a change in what needed to be done before aid was given. He talks about how democracy is not the solution but instead it is the strong checks and balances in government which is. This blew my mind that in many cases Professor Paul Collier claims Democracy is bad, or at least the act of electing officials is detrimental to the process.

I chose The Myth of the Rational…

I chose “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies.” I choose this book because it draws ties between what the american voters are feeling and what governmental economic policies are put into place. With it being an election year and all it sounds interesting.

Jim On your intellectual road map your first…

Jim, On your intellectual road map your first point talks about how as a race we need to raise everyone out of poverty. How do you feel about the vote Switzerland will be taking to approve or deny an amendment which grants a basic income to all citizens?
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-25415501

With the increase in cases as a result…

With the increase in cases as a result of the Zika virus found in many of the Latin American countries. I wonder how this virus will affect the economies of those countries especially with a large portion of children born in the next year being deformed. Especially since the Zika virus has been found in urine and saliva samples.

Logging In

Heads up to my fellow students looking to log in, the link on the right hand side of the site is broken. To log in instead edit the link in your web browser to: http://compsys16.econproph.net/login
Hope this helps.

Is this thing on?

So, after a few mishaps I believe I have managed to finally log in. Fingers crossed the rest of the term will go smoother.