Scott Santens Profile picture
Sep 1, 2020 5 tweets 5 min read Read on X
It's not new evidence, but a huge new review of the existing evidence finds no evidence of a significant reduction in labor supply with basic income, instead finding evidence that labor supply increases globally among adults, men and women, young and old.

preprints.org/manuscript/202… Image
Because of an ongoing #UBI experiment that started before the pandemic, we now have evidence of what impact UBI would have had if already in place elsewhere. We'd be seeing less food insecurity, less depression, and we would have more hospital capacity.🏥

econweb.ucsd.edu/~pniehaus/pape… ImageImage
A 2018-19 experiment in Vancouver, BC provided $7500 unconditional cash to 50 homeless people. As a result they spent less time in shelters, saving the shelter system $8100 per person. Drug and alcohol use also went down 39%, plus food security improved.

Image
A 2018 study of cash giving in Rwanda found that households that got cash instead of standard aid saved 60% more, consumed 32% more, and expanded productive assets by 76% more. Diets improved, and so did children’s height, weight, and chances of survival.

bostonglobe.com/2020/10/17/opi… ImageImageImageImage
New research into an ongoing quasi-experiment of #UBI as a result of casino dividends in North Carolina shows it has increased self-reported lifespan for men in the bottom 25% by 15 years, meaning that they're less likely to act as if they will die young.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32432936/ ImageImage

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More from @scottsantens

May 3
There's something about the debate going unsaid when we argue over whether AI will replace human labor or complement it.

If replace, then basic income is definitely needed.

If complement, then it's easy to believe we own the total value of our enhanced labor. But why is that?
If my labor is enhanced by technology, such that my work as a human contributes 10% to what I produce and a machine contributes the other 90%, then why do I deserve anything more than 10%, even if I own the machine?

Now we need to ask where the machine came from...
Robots, AI, computer hardware and software, it all came from the past. Those alive today are building on what those humans no longer with us built, who themselves built on what they were given.

Government spending was invested in all of this technology to grow and accelerate it.
Read 6 tweets
May 17, 2023
"People perceive national debt as a negative, Grey said. But instead, he argues, you can think of it as a savings account, because people are earning interest through the bonds that they hold."

Correct. The "debt" is assets, and the ceiling is just dumb.
marketplace.org/2023/05/12/cou…
It is a choice we make to issue Treasury securities $1 for $1 of federal spending that exceeds taxes. We don't have to do that, but it's popular because people like earning a US government guaranteed rate of interest.

The entire #DebtCeilingCrisis is just a hostage situation.
The US issues USD. We choose to also issue securities that pay USD interest. Our 14th Amendment says we can't default on any of our promised payments. Just keep making the payments, and we may as well also issue a $1 trillion coin to demonstrate we don't have to issue securities.
Read 5 tweets
May 15, 2023
This is good but I wish it also included how Medicare Part D doesn't even carry the same issue as the rest of Medicare because it was set up to use general revenue. It's the example that proves all that's required to "fix Social Security" is just a legislative change in wording. ImageImageImage
If we decide to reduce Social Security payments in the future, that's a political choice. We certainly don't have to do that. We can keep making 100% of payments, and no we don't even have to lift the cap on payroll taxes. We can just spend the money.

stephaniekelton.substack.com/p/what-fdr-and… ImageImage
It's really harmful how wide and how strong the myth-based belief is that the national "debt" is some big scary loan of some kind instead of being more like a savings account and how running a deficit is somehow bad regardless of what the spending is for.

evonomics.com/isnt-time-stop…
Read 4 tweets
May 4, 2023
At their annual meeting, the Southern African Quaker Community voted in support of the introduction of a universal basic income for all people legally in South Africa. Here they explain the reasons behind the resolution.

dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-0…
"The poverty-stricken masses have nothing going for them, see no hope for their future, and have nothing to lose. South Africa is a tinderbox that will catch fire if a match is thrown into it... South Africa may be considered a real-world example of where the world is going."
"In our view as Quakers, unconditional universality is pivotal. First, this emphasizes the equality and worth of all. Second, it avoids introducing a massive bureaucracy and associated procedures, often carried out by uncaring officials and involving lengthy waits."
Read 4 tweets
Apr 12, 2023
UBI critics: If we give people money without conditions, people will stop working.

UBI pilot: Turns out the UBI group worked more than the control group.

UBI critics: Well of course giving people more money works. But it costs too much.

UBI pilot: Turns out the money spent on… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
"We fail to find effects of the [monthly CTC], and temporary removal of the work requirement, on labor force participation and total hours worked."

Brand new study. Same old result. Unconditional income didn't reduce people's labor force participation.

nber.org/system/files/w… Image
Read 5 tweets
Apr 11, 2023
A 🧵 of key takeaways from the final results of the @stocktondemo of #BasicIncome published yesterday:

✅No negative impact on work
✅Income volatility down
✅Mental health improved
✅Less fatigued
✅Improved physical functioning
✅More bargaining power

link.springer.com/article/10.100… Image
Pre-pandemic, employment increased quite a bit in the basic income group, but the increase did not remain significant during the pandemic. It's possible that this and other non-significant results were due to unexpected attrition by the end of the experiment. (more on that later) Image
Income volatility was another measure that decreased significantly pre-pandemic, but did not remain significant, as did psychological distress. People in the basic income group moved from "likely to have a mental health disorder" to "likely to be well" in year one, pre-Covid. Image
Read 8 tweets

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