# UBI \[Universal Basic Income\] News **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101 "2019-01-02T16:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/1 "2019-01-02T16:50:06Z")
So here we have a thread for watching and discussing news regarding the rise of universal basic income around the world, e.g. Germany: The first basic income experiment in Germany will start in 2019 > **[Germany: The first basic income experiment in Germany will start in 2019 |...](https://basicincome.org/news/2018/12/germany-the-first-basic-income-experiment-in-germany-will-start-in-2019/)** ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/2 "2019-01-02T16:51:17Z")
More of a fit for MPSIMS than Elections so I’m moving it there. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/3 "2019-01-02T20:35:55Z")
Who knows when UBI will become mainstream. Also what are poorer nations going to do? They don’t have the wealth yet to fund UBI. A nation like Bangladesh will just be cut out of the global economy due to mass automation. They won’t own the robots and nobody will need their workers either. UBI will replace some forms of public assistance like social security or welfare, but it’ll still require big tax hikes which will make it difficult to enact. Arguably UBI will require around 20-30% of gdp devoted to it. Plus you still have other government expenses like education, health care, etc. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/4 "2019-01-03T05:46:50Z")
Can we start by stopping calling it Universal? It won’t be payable to just anybody who asks for it - there will have to be some eligibility criteria, whether based on citizenship or residence. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/5 "2019-01-14T14:08:55Z")
Universal basic income is the solution to a worsening problem > **[Universal basic income is the solution to a worsening problem](https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/424766-universal-basic-income-is-the-solution-to-a-worsening-problem/)** > > It only requires us to have the vision, empathy and courage to adopt it for the American people. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubi-universal-basic-income-news/827101/6 "2019-01-14T14:52:07Z")
So the experiment in Germany may finally answer many of the following questions. What is the inflationary effect of UBI and how does it affect the workers that earn 105-125% of the UBI level? Does the UBI level change to follow the CPI or other cost of living index? How hard is it for smaller, less well funded employers to attract employees for wages that don’t or barely exceed the UBI? How many employers move or establish their shop across the border so as to not be affected by it? ETA: should have read the cite first. It is a very limited trial, not an entire economic system being experimented with. The results may not scale.