Elon Musk: Robots will take your jobs, government will have to pay your wage

[Mackin USA]

In a country with universal basic income, each individual gets a regular check from the government. Switzerland considered instituting a universal basic income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2578) a month this summer. Voters ultimately rejected the plan, but it sparked a broad, global conversation.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/elon-musk-robots-will-take-your-jobs-government-will-have-to-pay-your-wage.html

[Chunkford]

Governments will need to do something as they are forcing the situation.
Was speaking to store manager the other day, and he was telling me because of the minimum wage increases in the UK they were having to install self-service checkouts to reduce the number of staff they have on the books.

[littleman]

Self service checkouts are already all over stores in the US.

[Chunkford]

Yea, they're pretty common over here in the UK too.
It just didn't dawn on me that the UK Government is pushing the situation with the minimum wage increases.
Double edge sword and all that.

[ergophobe]

Littleman - I saw this article come up in my feed and thought: "I think LM is going to win the bet about when UBI becomes a significant campaign issue."

[littleman]

It is starting to get on people's radar -- particularly Millennials.  Though it hasn't happen yet, I think the idea will gain support with the 50-75 year old demographic as a lot of their jobs become automated -- the type of folks who are out there working for near minimum wage to supplement their "retirement".

[Mackin USA]

GOOD READ

"Allowing economies to go fallow because of widespread unemployment and poverty would bankrupt nations faster," he says. "What's more, a basic income guarantee would start by combining existing social welfare payments, reducing the size of the bureaucracies needed to maintain each of them separately. So the burden of the state would shrink. Various public resources can be monetized, as Alaska has done with Alaskan oil, the proceeds of which are distributed as payments to Alaskans. But we will need redistribution of wealth to sustain a BIG. There is enormous wealth being created by technological innovations, but it is mostly being sucked up by the top 1% of the population."

http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-universal-basic-income-will-save-us-from-the-robot-1653303459

[Rupert]

Can you help me out here:  UBI ?

   Do you mean Unrelated Business Income?

[nffc]

Universal basic income.

[Rupert]

Ah of course.  Benefits.