German experiment gave people a basic monthly income – the effect on their work ethic was surprising | CNN
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A German experiment has found that people are likely to continue working full-time even if they receive no-strings-attached universal basic income payments.

A German experiment has found that people are likely to continue working full-time even if they receive no-strings-attached universal basic income payments.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20250412140637/https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/11/health/germany-universal-basic-income-study-intl-scli-wellness/index.html

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  • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
    234·
    1 年前

    It’s money that has no value if it’s truly universal. If it’s not universal, but only a select group gets it, yep pretty much no downsides.

    • grue@lemmy.world
      121·
      1 年前

      Tell me you don’t understand income inequality without telling me you don’t understand income inequality.

          • Rhaedas@fedia.io
            9·
            1 年前

            Aka the same line companies used when some places tried and succeeded in raising wages. Turns out the prices didn’t go up, only the spending power of those with those wages, who bought more stuff. Some people have a beef against the idea of any sort of welfare net because it might be abused. Then try to make it less abusable, or better yet, try it and see what works, don’t say “we tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.”

            • grue@lemmy.world
              3·
              1 年前

              Some people have a beef against the idea of any sort of welfare net because it might be abused.

              Yeah, if by “abused” you mean working-class people getting “uppity” because they actually manage to get ahead for once.

          • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
            112·
            1 年前

            Just a side note, if you want people to even consider your point of view, don’t call them idiots. Off to blocklist you go! Bye.

            • grue@lemmy.world
              101·
              1 年前

              LOL, says the guy whose previous comment was nothing but a personal attack. You’re just throwing a tantrum because you have no rebuttal.

              • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
                16·
                1 年前

                Artificially inflating prices to cancel out UBI would create economic incentive to undercut those corporations in a free market.

                That hasn’t worked historically for any reason and UBI is not so magical that the whole of capitalism will sit on its ass and stop doing what it’s doing.

                Government intervention could also be used in a less free market to ensure subsistence items aren’t artificially inflated, after that who cares if some company inflates their price? Go work if you want a new shiny thing.

                Pretty much the same response as above, good luck with that.

                You know what’s really good? Having a safety net to prevent the lowest suffering class of our society dying from things that we’ve been able to prevent for decades.

                Having reduced crime because people aren’t fighting over scraps.

                Having more mobility in society so people can pursure careers and education that aligns with their own self fulfilment goals.

                Fully agree, I don’t see how that relates to UBI, though.

                Stop fighting against a better world for all of us please.

                I’m not, I’m just trying to explain that while UBI sounds good on paper, it can’t work and never will. It’s free money for everyone who owns capital, be it landlord or huge chains. They’ll have your UBI, you’ll have nothing and you’ll pay for it from your taxes, because rich don’t pay their taxes, definitely not the amount they should. So, where in that is your better world?

                  • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
                    12·
                    1 年前

                    I’d prefer a world where people are guaranteed the basics to survive without having to capitulate to the system, we have the technlogical progress and productive capabilities to do this we’re just not there in terms of societal progression.

                    I get that and I agree, but I don’t think giving everyone money that can be stolen by the usual suspects is the solution. Safety nets are the way to go, not UBI.

                    If someone some day proves me wrong, I’ll be happy to admit I was wrong, though I’m not gonna support UBI until that happens, because of the issues I outlined.

              • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
                13·
                1 年前

                I did want to and as you can see in a sibling thread, we actually did discuss with someone who didn’t decide that calling people idiots just because you don’t have anything smarter to say is appropriate.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
      10·
      1 年前

      If everyone is getting it but only the poorer are using it, it most certainly has value.

      • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.worldEnglish
        111·
        1 年前

        Oh, so you’re putting unrealistic constraints on it. Then yes, it has value. But no, the rich are using it, too. And because for them it’s such a small amount, they’re extracting your UBI as well.

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 年前

      Let’s say it’s set at $10k/year. To someone on $20k that’s a 50% boost. To someone on 100k, it’s only 10%. At a million a year it’s down to 1%.

      If it’s accompanied by a 20% tax, it would significantly rebalance income inequality, and provide a reliable financial buffer for the poor to negotiate from.