Finland considers a universal basic income for all citizens

Discussion in 'Economics' started by Sotnis, Dec 7, 2015.

  1. Maverick74

    Maverick74

    I could give two shits about wealth distribution. I care about long term costs. THAT is where the real distribution occurs. Yes, the Finnish model is much more efficient and by efficient I mean the long term costs to society will be far less and in fact, there will be less wealth distribution, not more. Conservatives in general (I'm not one of them) do not oppose entitlements, they oppose abuse of entitlements especially the left using entitlements for votes. This is why they scream louder then a baby if you threaten to cut social security benefits. They WANT entitlements, they just don't like how they are used by the left to win elections. If you remove the mechanism by which the left scores votes, you would find they would happily support these entitlements. And this is why the left would NEVER support this Finnish model, trust me. Oh they would at first until they read all the op ed pieces about it and they would change their minds quickly.

    Look, it was a republican, Richard Nixon, that first came up with the idea of universal healthcare by expanding Medicaid for everyone. He came up with this proposal because he thought it would be far more efficient then moving to a single payer model where the gov't had to run the healthcare system. In the end, his proposal would have lowered long term costs tremendously. Who opposed it? You guessed it, the liberals. And round and round we go.
     
    #51     Dec 28, 2015
  2. Xela

    Xela


    I suspect, actually, that several other countries may have beaten him to it ...
     
    #52     Dec 28, 2015
  3. Maverick74

    Maverick74

    #53     Dec 28, 2015
    Xela likes this.
  4. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    A percentage of food stamp money is exchanged for cash. The going rate is 50%. Let's also not discount the "food" that it's able to buy. KFC, Taco Bell, etc.
     
    #54     Dec 28, 2015
  5. Maverick74

    Maverick74

    I know it's not perfect and there is abuse in the system and quite frankly, most of these people who are trying to cheat the system will be rewarded with a lifetime of poverty. We can't save everyone and we have to accept the fact that most these people will choose to stay in poverty and work the system. That is fine. But it will help some people and it's better then the alternatives. I agree the technology needs to get better and the damn liberals who claim to be so compassionate need to get their shit together and get tougher on these loopholes. Still, it's a very small amount of money.
     
    #55     Dec 28, 2015
  6. 777

    777

    The US state of Hawaii will be enactimg one, so we can follow that one as well and see how things go.

    Obviously, we are awash in abundance and if technology displaces too many...

    I agree with Buffett that we should embrace free trade and technology while looking for ways to help those who are displaced.

    Food for thought as the future unfolds.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2017
    #56     Sep 5, 2017
    comagnum and Xela like this.
  7. Maverick74

    Maverick74

    Actually no. Here is what Hawaii did:

    The bill, HCR 89, directs the government "to convene a basic economic security working group," a request that can be seen as the first tangible step toward a US basic income program.
     
    #57     Sep 5, 2017