First, UBI is not a magical solution to all humanity’s problems ever. For example, it won’t cure malaria. Also, what happens if we adopt UBI and literally every single human on this planet decides to quit their job and do nothing (before things get fully automated)? Then we will starve and die.
So, expecting UBI to magically solve everything would be wrong. It is also be wrong to reject UBI just because it is unable to magically solve everything. Things that solve some problems and do not solve other problems can still be improvements.
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The allocation of money determines not just how much stuff is produced, but also which stuff is produced. It is true that UBI will not result in more stuff being produced. But it may result in different stuff being produced. Fewer yachts, more anti-malaria nets? That would be the most optimistic result, but maybe something like that. I mean, if the people who need the anti-malaria nets get the UBI, they may spend a part of money on that, and a part on something else.
Worrying about the rent makes sense. But consider that one of the reasons why rents are so high is that people need to live close to well-paying jobs. Yes, a part of UBI will get captured by the rent-seekers (unless it is financed by a Georgist reform), but the power of the rent-seekers will be somehow reduced by the fact that people are now under smaller pressure to live at the most expensive locations. No idea what would be the new balance, but it doesn’t seem obvious to me that it would be the same as the old balance.
Shortly, your analysis is missing the part where people with UBI would be allowed to make different choices than they make now. If you get extra X dollars, and someone increases your rent by X dollars… yes, one possible choice is to stay. But another possible choice (that you didn’t previously have) is to leave and take the X dollars with you. So people will probably split between these two options.
First, UBI is not a magical solution to all humanity’s problems ever. For example, it won’t cure malaria. Also, what happens if we adopt UBI and literally every single human on this planet decides to quit their job and do nothing (before things get fully automated)? Then we will starve and die.
So, expecting UBI to magically solve everything would be wrong. It is also be wrong to reject UBI just because it is unable to magically solve everything. Things that solve some problems and do not solve other problems can still be improvements.
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The allocation of money determines not just how much stuff is produced, but also which stuff is produced. It is true that UBI will not result in more stuff being produced. But it may result in different stuff being produced. Fewer yachts, more anti-malaria nets? That would be the most optimistic result, but maybe something like that. I mean, if the people who need the anti-malaria nets get the UBI, they may spend a part of money on that, and a part on something else.
Worrying about the rent makes sense. But consider that one of the reasons why rents are so high is that people need to live close to well-paying jobs. Yes, a part of UBI will get captured by the rent-seekers (unless it is financed by a Georgist reform), but the power of the rent-seekers will be somehow reduced by the fact that people are now under smaller pressure to live at the most expensive locations. No idea what would be the new balance, but it doesn’t seem obvious to me that it would be the same as the old balance.
Shortly, your analysis is missing the part where people with UBI would be allowed to make different choices than they make now. If you get extra X dollars, and someone increases your rent by X dollars… yes, one possible choice is to stay. But another possible choice (that you didn’t previously have) is to leave and take the X dollars with you. So people will probably split between these two options.