• qwertyqwertyqwerty@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They just print it. There’s nothing tying the value of the currency to what it’s worth in terms of purchase power except how much is circulated.

    My issue with UBI, at large-scale, is that it will cause inflation that will 100% go to the wealthiest people on the planet. For example, it’s not that the cost of a burger would need to go from $10->$15 because companies now need to compete in wages in an environment where their employees have an extra $12k, it’s that the cost of a burger will go from $10->$15 because the rich want the extra $5, leaving people receiving UBI with the same (or less) purchasing power.

    EDIT: To be clear, I’m excited about the possibilities that these studies show, and I’m not against UBI. I just am getting older and coming to the conclusion that the non-wealthy get fucked every time anything that is meant to help us is implemented.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      Yeah the effects on inflation need to be looked at pretty closely. Extra cash to people who need it is great for them. Extra cash for everyone, especially if it is just printed, surely will cause problems. Just the increase in money supply will result in inflation but yeah greedy assholes will find ways to suck up the free money from everyone else.

      The problem with the wealthy fucking over us peons is what’s truly Universal when we have so much corruption.

      If I didn’t fear it falling into squalor, along with NIMBY problems, some kind of public free housing would effectively be like a portion of UBI but harder for greedy pricks to suck up the money legally. And at least that way the people who would otherwise be able to work (e.g. those who became homeless due to medical emergencies) wouldn’t be at a disadvantage from being unhomed.

      Of course the real answer there is universal healthcare and elimination of for profit healthcare and elimination of health insurance. So that medical emergencies are just covered.

    • _number8_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      yeah i’ve never understood why they can’t just print the money. how does that actually force the dude at costco to print new price tags. ohh oh no this amount seems like less now, it’s not as though we have abundance beyond our wildest dreams, better increase prices because of the graphs!!

    • centof@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      is that it will cause inflation that will 100% go to the wealthiest people on the planet

      It will only cause inflation if you print the money. If the supply of money goes up then value of money goes down.

      I just am getting older and coming to the conclusion that the non-wealthy get fucked every time anything that is meant to help us is implemented.

      I hear you there. We have a corrupt political class to blame for that. Which is why I advocate for the Forward party, which aims to break up the duopoly of the political system. It’s main policy goals are Nonpartisan primaries and Ranked Choice Voting.