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14 sats \ 2 replies \ @charonnakamoto 8 Jan \ parent \ on: Are state subsidised jobs just UBI with extra steps? econ
Why do you say there’s no opportunity cost? When you think about it from the perspective of the one who pays her salary- her salary could have been provided to an additional healthcare worker, sanitation worker, library janitor, or security guard.
Ideally, you'd expect her to have saved enough in her lifetime to provide for her retirement. So, she doesn't ‘need’ the work. But since money is broken and debased, she is (hypothetically) forced to earn even at that age.
But yes, if she would have received $X from welfare and now she received $X from working this job, then it makes sense there's no opportunity cost. The government shells out no matter the outcome here.
I guess I'm making an argument against the welfare state in the first place then, haha
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yes, precisely. This is the interpretation I'm taking here:
conditional on welfare state, gov gotta fork out $X anyway; might as well get something for it
This is also how I see UBI; conditional on gov supporting the population (taking care of base needs/starving on the streets-type poverty), it's better to have a fixed, equal, transparent amount to everyone (UBI) than a means-tested, corrupt/bureaucratic hoopla
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