Matt Levine comments on guaranteed basic income:\u00a0There are a lot of different ways to advocate for a universal basic income: as a socialist-ish equalization of resources, as a libertarian-ish replacement for the welfare state, a techno-utopian\u00a0social engineering for the coming robot-driven end of work. \u00a0Bill Gross is a little techno-utopian, but he also argues for the universal basic income as macroeconomic policy: helicopter-money UBI.<\/p>\n
Money for free! Well not exactly. The Piper that has to be paid will likely be paid for in the form of higher inflation, but that of course is what the central banks claim they want. What they don\u2019t want is to be messed with and to become a government agency by proxy, but that may just be the price they will pay for a civilized society that is quickly becoming less civilized due to robotization. There is a rude end to flying helicopters, but the alternative is an immediate visit to austerity rehab and an extended recession. I suspect politicians and central bankers will choose to fly, instead of die.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Beyond the socialist\/libertarian\/tech\/macro cases for UBI, its deep appeal is the possibility of redefining human worth and dignity without reference to work. People in modern capitalist economies are expected to work, and their self-conception is bound up in the job they do and how good they are at it. In a post-scarcity world where the robots do the labor, how will we fill our time? How will we find meaning in life? Gross has his own ideas, which apparently involve drum circles:<\/p>\n
How to live a life \u2013 this Shakespearian brief candle? Should I listen to the beat of a bass drum instead of an ancient tom-tom? Would I dare dance to strange new music with a different step? \u201cForward\u201d is my futile response. Forward \u2013 with difficult questions. John Denver expressed it succinctly, \u201cIf there\u2019s an answer, it\u2019s just that it\u2019s just that way\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Imagine a young Bill Gross, offered a basic income, free of the constraints of needing to earn a living. Would he still have become an obsessive bond manager? Yes of course he would have, come on.<\/p>\n
Gross sold some fancy stamps\u00a0the other day and donated the proceeds to the Pimco Foundation, presumably in part so he could throw this shade at his old employer:<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a special affection for the Pimco Foundation, which I co-founded in 2000 and 100 percent funded for its first two years,\u201d Gross said in the statement. \u201cIrrespective of my current employment status, I am still a firm believer in the Pimco Foundation\u2019s mission to help people around the world reach their full potential by engaging, empowering and investing in communities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Matt Levine comments on guaranteed basic income:\u00a0There are a lot of different ways to advocate for a universal basic income: as a socialist-ish equalization of resources, as a libertarian-ish replacement for the welfare state, a techno-utopian\u00a0social engineering for the coming … Continue reading