> b) have a business so close to the brink of shutting down that an additional $20-50 an hour will shutter you.
This is the default state of businesses in competitive markets. If you could do with less then you could charge less, and one of your competitors will start doing that to take your customers, so you have to do the same.
Of course, the alternative is to pay more and then raise prices. Which you might not be able to do if the additional cost is imposed only on you, but when your competitors have to pay it too, you all raise prices without losing business to each other.
But the overall industry would still lose some business to customers not being able to afford its products, and some of the suppliers still go out of business.
Unless the labor costs increase generally instead of only for that industry. Because then your customers can afford the higher prices. If labor becomes a higher percentage of operating costs overall, they may even be able to afford more than before. This is why a UBI is good for businesses -- customers have more money in their pockets.
This is the default state of businesses in competitive markets. If you could do with less then you could charge less, and one of your competitors will start doing that to take your customers, so you have to do the same.
Of course, the alternative is to pay more and then raise prices. Which you might not be able to do if the additional cost is imposed only on you, but when your competitors have to pay it too, you all raise prices without losing business to each other.
But the overall industry would still lose some business to customers not being able to afford its products, and some of the suppliers still go out of business.
Unless the labor costs increase generally instead of only for that industry. Because then your customers can afford the higher prices. If labor becomes a higher percentage of operating costs overall, they may even be able to afford more than before. This is why a UBI is good for businesses -- customers have more money in their pockets.