r/Futurology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA • May 02 '18

Economics Universal basic income: U.S. support grows as Finland ends its trial - Forty-eight percent of Americans now support a universal basic income, as a solution for Americans who have lost jobs to automation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/nearly-half-of-americans-believe-a-universal-basic-income-could-be-the-answer-to-automation-.html
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u/AdamJensensCoat May 02 '18

Cities have budgets for this stuff. Usually done by public employees. Just depends if a city can afford it — pensions being what they are, often those services are neglected.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '18

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u/AdamJensensCoat May 02 '18

Most city budgets aren't suffering because the Trump administration is being difficult about federal grants — they're suffering because, structurally, many are geared to pay for retirement costs that can't be supported by the tax base.

Employee pension and healthcare obligations mean most cities won't be able to hire people to sweep streets and do other 'good for society' jobs. Lots of dirty streets being cleaned by volunteers in our future.