Re:A Basic Income Is Smarter Than a Minimum Wage
by ksenzee on Monday April 04, 2016 @05:03PM
(#11425650)
> all walmart has to do is increase prices and workers would again be forced to work for basic sustenance
Walmart is not the only retailer in the United States. You're positing widespread collusion on the part of everyone who sells goods and services. That or you're just describing the effects of inflation in a roundabout way.
Re:A Basic Income Is Smarter Than a Minimum Wage
by rsmith05 on Monday April 04, 2016 @04:32PM
(#11425342)
"fails to address the root causes of class division."
What are the root causes?
I'd imagine that companies would make MORE profit in a world with UBI because more individuals have more disposable income to use on their products.
Would they raise prices? If so, how do we make it work?
If workers leave walmart to live off of basic income, all walmart has to do is increase prices and workers would again be forced to work for basic sustenance, as they would no longer afford walmart's monopolized goods. If they live in a left-leaning or urban area, they may be lucky to have a food co-op, but those are already unlikely to be paying bare minimum wage, and are generally located in more expensive areas.
At best, UBI will totally ineffective. At worst, few will capitalize on it early on to reach some success before the market adjusts, and the Koch/Cato ilk will use that success to further push an anti-labor agenda until the system implodes again.
I was all for UBI when I first heard of it, but more and more I realize it's just another neoliberal economic policy that fails to address the root causes of class division. Perhaps it will be our decade's "microloan" scam.