I expect a lot of people will find this argument to be confusing because they don’t have an intuitive sense of what it means for something to be “economically efficient.” To clarify what I believe to be your argument, I propose a thought experiment:
Suppose the American government discovered a portal to another universe that, when opened, spews forth an enormous amount of wealth (final consumer goods, not dollar bills) at some rate. After some tabulation, we find that the portal gives us so much free wealth that distributing its bounty equally among US citizens would provide everyone $1000 a month. In response, politicians pass a new law describing how the wealth ought to be distributed: we auction off goods that the portal gives us, and then distribute the revenue from the auctions equally, as to provide everyone a fair share of the pot (i.e. $1k a month to all).
Now, suppose someone claims that we should close this portal. Their argument: if everyone was given $1000 a month, then many would sit at home and do nothing. This portal decreases the incentive to work, and we therefore must not receive any of its benefits.
I’d imagine most people would not accept this argument for closing the portal. But indeed, this argument is precisely the one that people often give against UBI.
I expect a lot of people will find this argument to be confusing because they don’t have an intuitive sense of what it means for something to be “economically efficient.” To clarify what I believe to be your argument, I propose a thought experiment:
Suppose the American government discovered a portal to another universe that, when opened, spews forth an enormous amount of wealth (final consumer goods, not dollar bills) at some rate. After some tabulation, we find that the portal gives us so much free wealth that distributing its bounty equally among US citizens would provide everyone $1000 a month. In response, politicians pass a new law describing how the wealth ought to be distributed: we auction off goods that the portal gives us, and then distribute the revenue from the auctions equally, as to provide everyone a fair share of the pot (i.e. $1k a month to all).
Now, suppose someone claims that we should close this portal. Their argument: if everyone was given $1000 a month, then many would sit at home and do nothing. This portal decreases the incentive to work, and we therefore must not receive any of its benefits.
I’d imagine most people would not accept this argument for closing the portal. But indeed, this argument is precisely the one that people often give against UBI.