One way to palliate the corona virus economic consequences and individual circumstances is to implement a Universal Basic Income system as Andrew Yang proposes;
Andrew Yang, AOC, Harvard professor: Free cash payments would help during coronavirus pandemic
As businesses across the U.S. ask employees to work from home in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, many hourly employees and shift workers whose jobs depend on them being on location are facing an impossible decision: go to work to get paid or stay home to help “flatten the curve” of coronavirus.
That dilemma has helped add fresh fuel to the universal basic income debate. Advocates say if every American were getting some free cash, many more workers wouldn’t have to make such a choice.
“Too many Americans are leaving home every day to earn wages and tips to survive, even as businesses dry up and schools are shutting down due to the coronavirus,” former presidential candidate Andrew Yang tells CNBC Make It on Friday. Since dropping out of the Democratic race, Yang has started non-profit Humanity Forward to further ideas he popularized with his campaign, including his $1000-per-month UBI payment for all American citizens over 18, which he called the “Freedom Dividend.”
UBI will help people that lose their jobs, the homeless, gig economy workers, the unemployed and small businesses. And it will help the whole economy.
Others agree and are more specific;
US should give citizens $1,000 a month to limit coronavirus impact on economy, strategist says
“Hong Kong, however much it’s been criticized, they did something quite right — they gave money to the people, 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,287) for all its individual citizens,” Freris told CNBC on Friday.
“The United States has got 330 million people. If they start giving $1,000 per month to every single American, within three months they would have done about a billion plus, and they will still have plenty of money still to come — and this is money that will go straight into consumption.”
Cutting payroll taxes only helps those who have a regular job.
What do you think?