Re:Mark Zuckerberg Calls for a Universal Basic Income
by scarmig on Friday May 26, 2017 @05:05PM
(#14427169)
The dystopia you envision foisted on us by evil centralizing puppetmasters isn't realistic.
For the most highly productive places, a UBI isn't going to result in fresh bidding wars that substantially impact prices. For one, it's simply way too small to have anything but a marginal effect. For two, any plausible funding mechanism for a UBI will substantially tax people and investments in those areas. You're more likely to see a drop in prices in SF and Manhattan than an increase. (Yes, that means a decline in the standard of living for most people commenting here.)
A UBI would have a centrifugal effect, in that it would encourage many people to leave the most costly areas for cheaper areas. But, there would also be centripetal forces too, because of the microstructure of how labor mobility happens: many people are stuck where they live now in Bumblefuck because they lack any liquid capital and are stuck in an economic and social rut. The places that would see the real influx of people, and substantial inflation in real estate prices, are regions that are not top performers but also still economically productive.
That has winners and losers, and it does mean that some of the UBI would be consumed by real estate inflation. But it's implausible that all of it, or even a majority of it, would be.
For the most highly productive places, a UBI isn't going to result in fresh bidding wars that substantially impact prices. For one, it's simply way too small to have anything but a marginal effect. For two, any plausible funding mechanism for a UBI will substantially tax people and investments in those areas. You're more likely to see a drop in prices in SF and Manhattan than an increase. (Yes, that means a decline in the standard of living for most people commenting here.)
A UBI would have a centrifugal effect, in that it would encourage many people to leave the most costly areas for cheaper areas. But, there would also be centripetal forces too, because of the microstructure of how labor mobility happens: many people are stuck where they live now in Bumblefuck because they lack any liquid capital and are stuck in an economic and social rut. The places that would see the real influx of people, and substantial inflation in real estate prices, are regions that are not top performers but also still economically productive.
That has winners and losers, and it does mean that some of the UBI would be consumed by real estate inflation. But it's implausible that all of it, or even a majority of it, would be.