Andrew Yang: We Need Universal Basic Income to Save the Economy from a Coronavirus Depression

[babylonsister]

Andrew Yang: We Need Universal Basic Income to Save the Economy from a Coronavirus Depression
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Yang says he’s spoken with Democratic leaders about a basic income plan to respond to the new coronavirus pandemic
By Andy Kroll


WASHINGTON — Andrew Yang has dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary, but his signature plan to give every American adult a $1,000 a month has never been more popular.

With the novel coronavirus likely to plunge the economy into a recession and decimate the livelihoods of people who own small businesses or work in jobs without a guaranteed salary, lawmakers across the political spectrum have come out in favor of direct cash payments as a response to the pandemic. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) as well as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) have all called for some version of a basic income to deal with the economic fallout from the pandemic. One proposal by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) would directly pay affected Americans up to $6,000 a month depending on their need; Romney’s announcement calls for a flat $1,000 for every adult.

Yang says he’s heartened to see elected officials embrace his signature idea in the middle of the coronavirus. He says he’s had informal conversations with Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill about a universal basic income plan, and the organization he launched after dropping out of the presidential race, Humanity Forward, has also interacted with policymakers. “It’s invigorating that we might actually pass this thing before people’s lives fall apart,” he says.

Yang spoke with Rolling Stone on Monday afternoon about why a basic income could keep many Americans afloat right now, what type of plan he’d implement if he were president, and whether he plans to run for office again in the future.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Rolling Stone: Why do you think UBI is the right response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Andrew Yang: Think about the millions of Americans who work in jobs that are going to be impacted negatively and the list is essentially endless — from Uber drivers and waitresses and airline attendants to hotel workers and dog walkers and personal trainers. You’re going to have many, many Americans have their income reduced or wiped out in the days to come.

The CDC just said we should avoid gatherings of 50-plus for two months. New York City just shut down all of its bars and restaurants. The economic ripple effects are devastating and pervasive.

And so you have to look up and say, ‘How the heck do you try to keep millions of Americans of families afloat in that situation?’ We already had record levels of financial precariousness before the crisis: Almost half of Americans said they couldn’t afford an unexpected $400 bill, and 78% are living paycheck to paycheck. So what do you do?

In the absence of some kind of drastic move, you would see massive contraction in demand and economic activity to a point where you could be staring at a historic depression. So given that backdrop, you have no choice but to take drastic measures to help support demand and keep American families above water, and there’s no realistic way to do that except just to put cash in everyone’s hands as fast as possible.

more...

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/andrew-yang-coronavirus-universal-basic-income-freedom-dividend-968248/