> That might be true for maybe 5-10% of 20-somethings. The rest will blow it.

It feels like everyone that has an anti-UBI position has access to a lot of research that no one else can see - or they're just unwilling to read or accept the results of every study / bit of research actually done on the topic.

There isn't research done on UBI.

Either it is never universal, and / or participants know that it isn't going to last long (limited duration study) so they have different motivations than someone who will actually receive UBI.

Every study basically has the same (obvious and not useful) conclusion: people like getting money. Any conclusion beyond that (specific to UBI) isn't supported.

I know a universal one.

One is Alaska’s Permanent Fund. Look at their gini index among all 50 states since the fund launched.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pop4.398

And the conclusions are similar. Better health. Lower inequality

The other is Manitoba’s MINCOME experiment, they randomly selected people — it was doing very well but somehow the powers that be pulled the plug: https://humanrights.ca/story/manitobas-mincome-experiment

Alaska's Permanent Fund dividend paid $1,702 last year (for the whole year, not monthly). How is that small amount changing people's lives?

It certainly qualifies for a rather interesting definition of "basic"

Every person’s story is different. People are resourceful.

If $150 a month can make people’s lives better, in a state that doen’t issue its own currency, imagine what phasing in a UBI for everyone in USA can do, gradually and increasing. And that’s the point.

USA will have to print money anyway to service their sovereign debt. So may as well give it out as a UBI over 40 years first, then tax it and pay the treasury holders. Think about it!

I think the issue is that it'd be really hard to test experimentally. Basically you'd have to give a select group of people UBI for life and do a 40+ year long longitudinal study.

I haven’t actually seen any arguments against UBI. Lots of gut feelings offered as truisms though.

I think you meant to say "evidence against UBI." There's plenty of arguments, which, as you note, are mostly gut feelings.

Do you have data to back this up?

I agree with your viewpoint, but this response is dismissive and doesn’t sincerely engage in the discussion. It does a disservice to your argument.

The answer to the question you asked is the article these comments are attached to.

Did you mean to reply to someone else? I didn’t ask a question on this topic

So just so I'm clear: because some people, somewhere, will take UBI and blow it on college beer parties, which definitely won't happen otherwise, but because of that, every person who doesn't grow up at least semi-privileged gets the on-ramp directly onto the lifetime debt treadmill?

they're just parroting the "welfare queen" myth.

You are underestimating the human desire to be useful.