Andrew Yang wants to tax Silicon Valley to fund universal basic income plan

The 2020 presidential candidate said companies like Amazon should "pay their fair share" as automation begins to displace human workers.

Photo credit: Drew Angerer / GETTY
  • Andrew Yang is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate whose key campaign promise is to give every American adult $12,000, regardless of their current income.
  • Yang said his universal basic income plan could be funded by a value-added tax levied on tech companies.
  • Yang's proposal has no shortage of critics, but he maintains that his UBI program would grow the economy by trillions of dollars.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Universal basic income: The plan to give $12,000 to every American adult

Tax megacorps like Amazon to fund universal basic income, says 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

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  • The Freedom Dividend is a universal basic income proposal initiated by 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
  • Yang's plan would give $1,000 a month, or $12,000 per year, to every American over the age of 18, every year. This would get every U.S. adult just below the poverty line which is currently $12,770 a year.
  • How would it be funded? Yang suggests a value added tax on megacorps like Amazon (which paid zero tax last year). Funnel that money back into the American's people's hands to boost the economy, improve mental health, increase education and lower violence.
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The colossal problem with universal basic income

Here's why universal basic income will hurt the 99%, and make the 1% even richer.

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  • Universal basic income is a band-aid solution that will not solve wealth inequality, says Rushkoff.
  • Funneling money to the 99% perpetuates their roles as consumers, pumping money straight back up to the 1% at the top of the pyramid.
  • Rushkoff suggests universal basic assets instead, so that the people at the bottom of the pyramid can own some means of production and participate in the profits of mega-rich companies.
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How financial insecurity sinks American IQ scores

Being on shaky financial footing is making Americans dumber.

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  • Not being able to pay your bills has the functional equivalent of lowering your IQ by 13 points. Many Americans have scarcity mindsets because of their inability to pay their bills.
  • In a scarcity mindset, your functional bandwidth decreases — it influences you to be less generous and less reasonable.
  • The opposite of a mindset of scarcity is a mindset of abundance, which is what many entrepreneurs have. Abundance mindsets tend to build on to themselves if the environment is right.
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Australians support universal health care, so why not a universal basic income?

In Australia, the idea of a universal basic income has floated in and out of our political arena for years, but remains only that, an idea.

 

Job Seekers Search For Employment At Job Fair Held In Denver, December 2009 (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

In Australia, the idea of a universal basic income has floated in and out of our political arena for years, but remains only that, an idea.

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Politics & Current Affairs