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Ireland paid artists a basic income and it was a boost for the economy (www.good.is)

submitted 2 weeks ago by sundray@lemmus.org to c/neat@lemmy.world

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[–] commiunism@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I mean yeah? That's how basic economy works - if a state gives people free money, they get to spend that money on commodities which benefits the economy in terms of GDP.

The issue with UBI is still that it comes from the state, meaning once the overall rate of profit inevitably starts dropping and state gets less and less taxes/dividends and has to increase spending, meaning cuts or abolishment of welfare programs such as UBI. States don't have infinite money, and UBI for a state is an expense, not a profit endeavour. It's why welfare states don't really exist anymore apart from the few.

[–] Pringles@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yea, wellfare states are nice when the economy is booming but quickly run up debt when it's not. It's a nice idea, but not viable in the long term. In the end for each penny of government spending there needs to be a penny coming in from somewhere.

This can be largely mitigated by cheap financing but also then you see the inevitable downturns and the debt has accrued to unsustainable levels. Financing like that is passing the bill on to later generations (hard stare at the boomers).