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Why (and where) Universal Basic Income is becoming more popular
Long before Andrew Yang launched his scrappy 2020 presidential campaign, Universal Basic Income (UBI), the idea that the government provides every adult citizen with a set amount of cash on a regular basis (no strings attached), has been growing in popularity. And it's not just "talk" at this point. A few countries like Kenya, Finland and even Iran have launched nationwide unconditional cash transfer programs, and many others have launched smaller-scale programs. 54% of Americans oppose a UBI program, according to a 2020 PEW study. Unsurprisingly, most Democrats support it and most Republicans oppose it…many saying a UBI would discourage people from looking for jobs. But worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has only supercharged the UBI movement, as it further widened the chasm of global economic inequality.
Watch the episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer: Is modern society broken?
Andrew Yang: “We’re experiencing 10 years of change in 10 weeks”
Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang discusses the proposal that served as the cornerstone for his campaign—universal basic income—and why he believes the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the need for the policy.
Yang offers his thoughts on the Trump administration's relief check and stimulus plans, and why he feels the time has come for a more permanent income solution for Americans badly impacted by the sudden downturn in the economy.
Ian Bremmer and Yang also discuss the 2020 presidential race as it stands now, and what Biden can and should be doing to provide a counternarrative of hope and rebuilding to the nation.
Andrew Yang on Joe Biden's presidential campaign
What I'd want Joe to do, is that we have to let the American people know that this pandemic is going to cause damage that's going to be with us for years. And we need a new Marshall Plan scale initiative to rebuild the country. And to me, that should be the vision that Joe presents saying, it's not just enough that, look, I would in minister the government effectively through this kind of crisis, but to recognize the fact that there are going to be scars that are deep and wide from this economic, psychological, cultural, and that we need to have this massive rebuilding effort that is going to span years and years.
And this is what the rebuilding effort looks like. We're going to make investments in this. Some of the obvious ones are the things that we've needed for years or decades like greater environmental sustainability infrastructure, things that you could legitimately spend hundreds of billions of dollars on and create hundreds of thousands, even millions of jobs. That to me would be the vision that we should be presenting because the danger is that this becomes just pure referendum on Trump. And I think that Trump's done a terrible job managing the coronavirus crisis. But there is a natural propensity for people to rally around the flag and rally around the leader in a time of crisis. And Joe has to make a positive case and present a bigger vision than I'm not Trump, let's go back to normal.
Ian Bremmer: And when can he start doing that? Because I mean right now of course, I mean not only do we have these press conferences every day, but we're in the teeth of the crisis. We haven't turned the corner yet. People are still under lock down. Can Biden start to deliver that message now or I mean does he really realistically speaking have to wait until we at least have the immediacy, the urgency of all of these people dying in the rear view mirror?
Andrew Yang: That's a great question, Ian. I personally do not think it is too soon to start presenting a positive vision of what we can do after this crisis. Even in the depths of the crisis, even right now when, I agree with you, to me, priority number one is just getting PPE into the hands of healthcare providers in Louisiana. That's number one. And so focusing on that is 100% the right thing to do, but it's not too soon to start thinking about how we're going to actually rebuild after this crisis clears, whether that's weeks, months from now or even next year after hopefully a vaccine gets developed. To me that's one of the roles of the presidency is to present a vision to the country that people can get excited about and passionate about.
Andrew Yang: UBI is even more necessary now
In a new interview for a special digital edition of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang discusses the proposal that served as the cornerstone for his campaign—universal basic income—and why he believes the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the need for the policy.
Yang offers his thoughts on the Trump administration's relief check and stimulus plans, and why he feels the time has come for a more permanent income solution for Americans badly impacted by the sudden downturn in the economy.
