I don't have to be able to predict the future more than everyone else to vastly expand water reservoir's, increase education, build solar/wind/fission, public works... also, i've seen HN comments do extremely complex calculations about delta V but no one seems to do that math for UBI. what's 300m * $1000 a month? and 1,000 still doesn't cut it in most major cities.
> Targeted programs don't generally work; they rely on the idea that whoever is doing the targeting can predict the future better than everyone else, which isn't usually true.
What are you saying? That most government programs aren't working? Please share the data.
> Make people as a whole less motivated to work is the antithesis of economic prosperity.
Making people as a whole less trapped in dead-end jobs is great for economic prosperity. We know that people are more productive once they have a safety net that lets them take risk, e.g. there's a huge bump in people starting their own businesses - a big economic positive on average, but risky - once they hit the medicaid eligibility age. Or taking the time to retrain and switch careers - again, positive on average, but something a lot of people can't afford or don't dare to take the risk of.