Comment by danbruc

Several years ago I thought a universal basic income would be a good idea but the longer I thought about it the more that went away. Now I can't even tell which problem it tries to solve. There won't be enough work for everyone in the future? Well then cut down working hours instead of having half the population work full time and pay for the other half. Some jobs don't provide enough income to make a living? Then have sufficient minimum wages, there is no point in doing any work that does not pay well enough to make a living. Also universality, what is the point? Above some income you are essentially just paying yourself. There might be a technical point because it keeps the rules simple but besides that I don't see in which way absolute universality is a feature. Reduce the overhead from many different social programs, for state and citizen? Fair point, but then again an universal basic income seems quite a huge hammer.