Re:To end poverty, guarantee everyone in Canada $20,000 a year.
by gruseom on Saturday November 20, 2010 @09:52PM
(#1926087)
The cost would be partly offset by dismantling much of the welfare apparatus (Edit: as semanticist already pointed out here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1926049). It wouldn't even be too surprising if the measure largely paid for itself in this manner, especially if you consider side-effects like health care and prisons. It would be interesting to see some reasonably objective numbers on this.
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Re:To end poverty, guarantee everyone in Canada $20,000 a year.
by watmough on Saturday November 20, 2010 @10:07PM
(#1926131)
Another benefit, wages and living standards would rise, since there would be increased competition for workers.
Increased wages likely would drive better education and training, leading to a German-style skilled workforce. In turn, a skilled workforce is much less likely to be arbitrarily fired, look at German unemployment during the slowdown of the last two years.
For an analysis on one reason why the US is in such a mess, take a look at this article by Citi: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6674234/Citigroup-Oct-16-2005-Plut...