But significantly more than $1000 is not financially feasible for a balanced UBI program. The average US taxpayer has $40,000 of income and pays $6000 in taxes. A balanced UBI program would increase the average taxpayers taxes by an amount equal to the UBI. So the $40,000 of income would increase to $52,000 and taxes would increase from $6000 to $18000. It works out to about 15% increase in tax levels.
Yes, we'd try and reduce that income tax increase by getting money elsewhere, most significantly because UBI should allow us to decrease welfare payments significantly. But that would still contribute well under half of the $12K.
The numbers work at $1k a month, but they don't work for levels significantly higher than that.
And if UBI isn't balanced, then it will affect inflation, making it much less impactful.
I believe that $1k/month is a good figure for UBI. It's not quite enough to live on, but it can be in a shared-housing situation, and it can go a long ways to cover expenses if you have to quit your job due to an abusive boss or something.
Yes, we'd try and reduce that income tax increase by getting money elsewhere, most significantly because UBI should allow us to decrease welfare payments significantly. But that would still contribute well under half of the $12K.
The numbers work at $1k a month, but they don't work for levels significantly higher than that.
And if UBI isn't balanced, then it will affect inflation, making it much less impactful.
I believe that $1k/month is a good figure for UBI. It's not quite enough to live on, but it can be in a shared-housing situation, and it can go a long ways to cover expenses if you have to quit your job due to an abusive boss or something.