Bit of a Tangent

This episode features the much-anticipated conversation with Bronwyn Williams on the topic of Universal Basic Income (UBI). Bronwyn is a futurist and trend analyst with a background in marketing and economics. Gianluca and Jared pick her brain about the economic viability of UBI, the influence of politics and big tech, and the trends in automation that will shape the future of humanity. Regardless of your fiscal intuitions or political leanings, this episode will equip you with the core arguments in the UBI debate and leave you with plenty of food for thought.

 

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Write to Bit of a Tangent at podtangent@gmail.com

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Bronwyn Williams on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Bronwyn’s website: https://whatthefuturenow.com

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/

Apollo 42: http://apollo42.com/

Negative income tax: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_income_tax

Alaskan oil dividend: nhttps://basicincometoday.com/the-complicated-politics-of-the-alaska-permanent-fund-dividend/5422

Andrew Yang and the proposed “Freedom Dividend”: https://www.yang2020.com/policies/the-freedom-dividend/

Andrew Yang’s discussions about UBI with Sam Harris: https://samharris.org/podcasts/130-universal-basic-income/

Social credit system in China: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained

Elon Musk on automation and UBI: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/18/elon-musk-automated-jobs-could-make-ubi-cash-handouts-necessary.html

Neuralink’s human-brain interface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA77zsJ31nA

Humanity’s increasing prosperity (Steven Pinker): https://youtu.be/o5X2-i_poNU

On having a “Venezuela moment”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_in_Venezuela

Single-payer healthcare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-payer_healthcare

Cost of bringing a drug to market: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/10/16/the-cost-of-developing-drugs-is-insane-a-paper-that-argued-otherwise-was-insanely-bad/#2c8eb48d2d45

Swiss referendum on UBI: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36454060

Bronwyn’s book reviews: https://whatthefuturenow.com/category/reading-right-now/

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/396931.The_Origins_of_Totalitarianism

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-and-slow

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26195941-the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism

Death of the Gods by Carl Miller: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40504262-the-death-of-the-gods?ac=1&from_search=true

Ben Hunt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/epsilontheory

David Pearce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/webmasterdave

Slate Star Codex breakdown of UBI: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/08/01/squareallworthy-on-ubi-plans/

Bayesian Conspiracy (with David Spearman) on the economics of UBI vs. NIT: http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/07/88-ubi-and-other-forms-of-evil-taxes/