☆ Economist on County's GBI program: “Ethically inappropriate” and won't get the job done

In this Opp Now exclusive, Austrian and former White House economist Mike ter Maat unpacks SCC and Supe Ellenberg's latest guaranteed basic income press release—which announces upcoming payouts for young moms, unhoused students, and “justice-involved” residents. Ter Maat argues: Access to capital won't address underlying causes of poverty—and it's “deceptive” to dip into emergency taxes for initiatives that aren't empirically supported.

It is ethically inappropriate to pay for a GBI program with funds appropriated through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) from American taxpayers for the emergency purpose of rescuing Americans from the effects of COVID-related economic shutdowns. Truly, it is a deceptive misnomer to label “guaranteed basic income” or an “investment” what is actually a grant from taxpayers.

Moreover, claims that this program has been “successful” are unsubstantiable and unsupported by any economic analysis.

While it is indeed a myth that poverty is the result of moral failing, it is also a myth that poverty is the result of a lack of access to capital. America’s endemic poverty—the aspect of poverty that is often persistent and inter-generational—is the result of a combination of two factors. A: bad public policy (especially monopolized public schools), bad zoning, counterproductive welfare rules, and criminal prosecution of the war on drugs. B: reduced roles for the cultural institutions that have supported personal success in the past.

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