I am Canadian so I don't have any particular dogs in your fire. Also consider that our Right is probably left of your Left. My advice to you though is to probably discard most of the things that you learned in Microeconomics 101.
Supply and Demand curves when they are used in political arguments tend to be base on an overly simplistic understanding of what is going on. I am a big advocate of Universal Basic Income (UBI). When I discuss UBI with people they have many arguments against it but really don't understand how money works.
Look at STEEM. As of writing this the price is roughly $1.00. Why??? It isn't based on a physical asset but generated on participation. It has its value based on the belief the community has for the coin.
World wide revealed military spending works out to approximate $1 per person per day in the world. This means that every man, woman and child have a choice. Bullets or 1 pizza per month. While I recognize the importance of bullets, I think most people would prefer a pizza. UBI repeatedly has byproducts aside from putting food on the table and roofs over head. In any of the pilot projects it has been found that people were healthier, better educated and more productive. Next time you go to a subway shop ... ask the staff what would they do if they received $1000 per month as a Universal Basic Income. The last time I did that, the majority of people talked about getting out of debt (especially student debt). Even in Canada which subsidizes education (in 2007, our universities the second-most publicly-funded in the 31-member OECD. ) students still need to buy food and rent apartments.
What do poor people do with $1000 per month? They buy essentials: food, shelter and pay off debt. It does free them to expand their horizons. Being able to get better education and to be healthier allows them to become more entrepreneurial. Small business owners do not have safety nets. In Canada if their business fails, they do not have unemployment insurance. Imagine what you would do if you woke up tomorrow with zero income. You still need to provide for you family. UBI means that small business owners are supported.
What do middle class people do with $1000 per month? Some will buy a bigger tv, go on trips but many will divert the money into investment. An additional $1000 per month means a new sign on the store, a new delivery truck, new computers etc.
What do rich people do with $1000 per month? Nothing. To rich people $1000 per month is insignificant in their financial planning.
Where does the money come from to pay for it? Where does STEEM come from? My suggestion though is that each community would have their own coin. Consider Caribou Maine which has a population less than 10,000. Having a coin which is unique to that community would mean that it would have an increased velocity of money. Since the coin is meaningless outside of the community, it would circulate better in that community. Big box stores would need to purchase local coins in an exchange to pay their employees. Employees would increase their support of local businesses (because they would need to exchange the local coin for other local coins in other areas).
Paper money used to be letters of credit against deposits of gold held by people with vaults. That is no longer the case in the real world but cryptocurrencies rewrite the roles that organizations have with money. One hour of a person who walks a dog has a particular value in Caribou compared to New York City. However having a common currency (USD) under values the efforts of the dog walker in Caribou. Having community based currencies designed around a cryptocurrency like STEEM - proof of participation - (maybe proof of life) would make UBI easier for deployment.
Hi @dwarrilow2002 I recently came across this post by @kevinwong- it's an extension of exactly what you are talking about here. Check it out and I wouldnt mind picking through some thoughts with you... Thanks & look forward to a discussion...
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@kevinwong/notes-on-token-design-philosophy#@drdave/re-kevinwong-notes-on-token-design-philosophy-20171011t163508683z
Hi @drdave
This morning I watched a video featuring Jordan Peterson
which touched upon how people with a Lower IQ are increasingly incapable of working in a high tech society. As it is many jobs today are not particularly meaningful (folding letters to fit into envelopes!!!). As technology advances, more and more jobs will be lost ... creeping up the IQ ladder ... Conceivably it could reach a stage where only people with the top 16 percent will be able to find work. There is also a job bias against older workers. Alternatively the new technology will reduce the need for higher skilled workers. Within a few years distributed manufacturing will allow cars to be printed and assembled like lego.
UBI acts as a cushion for any class or IQ level.
Judging from what we see in american politics - there will always be jobs for even the lowest IQ person... All they have to do is spout off some pre recorded nonsense they know will gain a following - next thing you know, president of the US... I digress... UBI directly joined with a specific crypto has more merit the more I think about it - i'm gona put my 60 IQ into it for a while and get back to you... Steem on brother... ;)