Thread by @techreview

The pandemic took the concept of universal basic income out of Silicon Valley’s hands—and turned it into something far more radical.

Thread 👇
technologyreview.com/2021/05/07/102…

Universal basic income has become a favored cause for many high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like @jack and Mark Zuckerberg as a solution to the job losses and social conflict that would be wrought by automation and AI—the very technologies their own companies create.

But the conversation has changed. Its center of gravity has shifted away from “universal basic income” aimed at counterbalancing the automation of work and toward “guaranteed income” aimed at addressing economic and racial injustices.

In the US, proponents of guaranteed income as a matter of economic justice have included the Black Panthers and Martin Luther King Jr.

Even President Richard Nixon proposed providing cash directly to families, without conditions.

Today, a number of mayors are leading the charge with pilot projects to generate data to convince federal lawmakers that guaranteed income works.

In those projects, it’s not about replacing income from displaced jobs, but about providing the most marginalized individuals with a financial social safety net.

As it turned out, what made the difference to policy wasn’t more data but a global pandemic. In the face of the recession caused by the pandemic, relief packages were suddenly seen as necessary to jump-start the American economy.

The success of the $1,400 stimulus checks make it more likely now than ever before that that guaranteed income could soon become a permanent fixture of federal policy.

Stimulus checks for most Americans have normalized the idea of the government just giving out money.

Then, earlier this year, an expanded Child and Dependent Tax Credit was introduced that provides up to $3,600 per child, paid in monthly installments, to most American families.

By sending monthly payments of up to $300 per child, rather than a single rebate at the end of the year, the credit gives families a better chance to plan and budget. It is expected to cut child poverty in half.

Washington might not have used the language of guaranteed income, but stimulus checks and the Child and Dependent Tax Credit fit the definition.
technologyreview.com/2021/05/07/102…

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