In a recent keynote speech at the Future of Work Summit at NASA Ames Research Park, award-winning journalist and author Federico Pistono elaborated on the concept of “free money”–giving money to all people with no strings attached, an idea that Pistono explored in his best-selling book, “Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK.” Pistono spoke about the possibility of solving some ongoing human rights problems by giving everyone enough money to securely take care of themselves. More than anything, Pistono expressed a desire for more scientific data to inform economic policies.
“I could make the case as to why an unconditional basic income would result in better social conditions for everyone, including the wealthy,” said Pistono.
“I could make an ethical argument as to why it is our collective moral imperative to take Article 25 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at heart–‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.'”
“I could lay down a 10-year plan for transition, and show how it will be wonderful and beautiful for everyone.”
“And, of course, I could be wrong on all accounts,” said Pistono.
“I think way too much has been said on the hypothetical effects of certain economic policies as opposed to others. I’m driven by evidence and data, everything else is ideological masturbation. Let’s run some field pilots and randomized control studies, and take it from there.”
“In the end, evidence is all that matters. So let’s stop talking and start doing more. Start small, experiment, get data, learn from mistakes, expand, repeat.”
“Let’s be scientific.”
What if Everybody Got Free Cash?
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vnB16E36EQ”][su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ctbc9kw1oHA”][/su_youtube]
By James Haleavy