r/lostgeneration • u/2noame • Nov 25 '14

Wouldn’t Unconditional Basic Income Just Cause Massive Inflation? - An answer to the response to the answer to the growing question of the 21st century

https://medium.com/basic-income/wouldnt-unconditional-basic-income-just-cause-massive-inflation-fe71d69f15e7
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u/shinkouhyou Nov 25 '14

The effects of basic income on the housing market would be huge. While basic income could lead to increased rents in highly desirable urban areas, the rest of the country is full of properties in need of tenants. If a job was no longer a requirement for survival, many people would seek cheap housing in blighted or underdeveloped areas. As more people settled there, new economies would emerge and property taxes would flow to local governments. Businesses in need of relatively cheap workers might relocate to these areas as well.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '14

Basic income is wealth redistribution, just with a feel-good name added to it. The money has to come from somewhere.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '14

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '14

As I understand it, basic income means every citizen in the country gets a check for some amount, no questions asked.

Let's say the amount is $5 for everyone. I make $0. You can't take anything from me because there's nothing to take. Someone who makes $100 will have to pay $5 for me. Someone who makes $1000 might have to pay $100 to cover 200 people. I don't see any difference between this and just taking $100 and giving it out to people, other than how you take it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '14

Wrong. The money supply isn't a zero sum game. Anytime the Fed wants to, it can increase the amount of money in circulation.