Unconditional basic income is a popular idea these days, particularly in the tech community, as one way to respond to growing inequality. (Though, could our current levels of inequality just be the result of a larger economic cycle?)

One of the obvious counterarguments is that free money will make people lazy. But there are a number of studies out there, including real world examples, that suggest this isn’t necessarily true.

Wired recently published an interesting recount of one such example. 

In the late 90′s the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina opened up a casino. Many would argue that casinos are horrible as an economic development tool, but in this instance the roughly 15,000 tribal members were all promised an equal cut of the casino’s profits.

The first payments worked out to about $595 each. But in 2016, each tribal member received approximately $12,000. 

The operator takes 3% of annual profits as a management fee, and then the rest is funneled back into the community to cover things like healthcare and infrastructure. About half of the casino’s profits go toward these “per capita payments.”

All of this has made for an interesting case study on what can happen when you distribute unconditional money to low-income households. 

What researchers discovered was a slew of positive externalities ranging from not only higher household incomes and fewer people below the poverty line, but also better health outcomes and children staying in school longer.

For the full Wired article, click here.

The idea of providing everyone with an unconditional “basic income” is a popular topic these days – though it’s clearly not a new idea. I know many people today who think it is positively inevitable. At some point in the foreseeable future, inequality will reach such extreme levels that we will discover the need to give everyone free money, without any strings attached to it.

Below is a TEDx talk by Rutger Bregman where he explains why this is what we should be doing. One of his examples is a study that was done in London where they gave a group of homeless people free money. What they discovered was that they didn’t just go out and buy alcohol and drugs, which is what some of you may be thinking. They did positive things with it. They became empowered.

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIL_Y9g7Tg0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Unconditional basic income is a popular idea these days, particularly in the tech community, as one way to respond to growing inequality. (Though, could our current levels of inequality just be the result of a larger economic cycle?)

One of the obvious counterarguments is that free money will make people lazy. But there are a number of studies out there, including real world examples, that suggest this isn’t necessarily true.

Wired recently published an interesting recount of one such example. 

In the late 90′s the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina opened up a casino. Many would argue that casinos are horrible as an economic development tool, but in this instance the roughly 15,000 tribal members were all promised an equal cut of the casino’s profits.

The first payments worked out to about $595 each. But in 2016, each tribal member received approximately $12,000. 

The operator takes 3% of annual profits as a management fee, and then the rest is funneled back into the community to cover things like healthcare and infrastructure. About half of the casino’s profits go toward these “per capita payments.”

All of this has made for an interesting case study on what can happen when you distribute unconditional money to low-income households. 

What researchers discovered was a slew of positive externalities ranging from not only higher household incomes and fewer people below the poverty line, but also better health outcomes and children staying in school longer.

For the full Wired article, click here.

The idea of providing everyone with an unconditional “basic income” is a popular topic these days – though it’s clearly not a new idea. I know many people today who think it is positively inevitable. At some point in the foreseeable future, inequality will reach such extreme levels that we will discover the need to give everyone free money, without any strings attached to it.

Below is a TEDx talk by Rutger Bregman where he explains why this is what we should be doing. One of his examples is a study that was done in London where they gave a group of homeless people free money. What they discovered was that they didn’t just go out and buy alcohol and drugs, which is what some of you may be thinking. They did positive things with it. They became empowered.

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIL_Y9g7Tg0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]