This paper explores the highly exciting and controversial topic of universal basic income. It examines all sides, both good and bad, of the implications of implementing a universal basic income system. The paper theoretically lays out hurdles that governments will have when trying to implement this system, as well as possible solutions to those hurdles.
The paper also examines the probability of universal basic income becoming a reality. It determines how much such a project would cost, and what that cost is compared to other expenses. Finally, it looks at certain countries that have already looked into universal basic income.
This paper is not written with the intention to persuade one on either side of the debate when it comes to universal basic income. The intention, rather, is to lay out all the pros, all the cons, and to give an unbiased analyzation of this unique and riveting idea. After reading this essay, one might not know if the writer thinks universal basic income is truly a serious idea or not, and that’s the point. This is a very new thought that people are beginning to have, and we …show more content…
The most important of these problems is that universal basic income would cost an absolutely exorbitant amount of money. The poverty line is right around $11,945. Giving everyone at a working age enough money to be just above the poverty line would cost a whopping $2.14 trillion each year. For context, the entire GDP is almost $16 trillion, while the defense budget is around $700 billion. This would mean that universal basic income would cost more than three times what’s America’s favorite thing to spend money on, which is unrealistic at best. And perhaps that’s universal basic income’s biggest problem. It’s unrealistic to think that people would behave in such an altruistic way when they’re largely only concerned with
The paper also examines the probability of universal basic income becoming a reality. It determines how much such a project would cost, and what that cost is compared to other expenses. Finally, it looks at certain countries that have already looked into universal basic income.
This paper is not written with the intention to persuade one on either side of the debate when it comes to universal basic income. The intention, rather, is to lay out all the pros, all the cons, and to give an unbiased analyzation of this unique and riveting idea. After reading this essay, one might not know if the writer thinks universal basic income is truly a serious idea or not, and that’s the point. This is a very new thought that people are beginning to have, and we …show more content…
The most important of these problems is that universal basic income would cost an absolutely exorbitant amount of money. The poverty line is right around $11,945. Giving everyone at a working age enough money to be just above the poverty line would cost a whopping $2.14 trillion each year. For context, the entire GDP is almost $16 trillion, while the defense budget is around $700 billion. This would mean that universal basic income would cost more than three times what’s America’s favorite thing to spend money on, which is unrealistic at best. And perhaps that’s universal basic income’s biggest problem. It’s unrealistic to think that people would behave in such an altruistic way when they’re largely only concerned with