12-year study will look at effects of universal basic income
I&#x27;m glad this study is happening and I&#x27;m excited to see the outcome, but I feel like I ought to caution people who are expecting this to add this to their arsenal of pro- or anti- UBI arguments in western countries against comparing apples and oranges. My personal prediction is this study will show substantial gains in economic outcomes, health, social standing, etc for all groups that receive money. I&#x27;m guessing UBI proponents will leap on the opportunity to advocate for similar programs in western countries. If my prediction is wrong, I&#x27;m guessing opposite will happen.<p>I caution that either conclusion would be unjustified because this is not a UBI experiment, this is a <i>charity and aid distribution</i> experiment. The question at hand here isn&#x27;t &quot;is UBI a wonderful thing&quot; but rather &quot;how do UBI-like distribution methods compare to others?&quot; If you want proof consider that Tavneet Suri&#x27;s isn&#x27;t a UBI economist focusing on western countries, &quot;her expertise is as a development economist, specialized in Sub-Saharan Africa&quot; [1]<p>I object to labeling this as a UBI experiment. &quot;Universal Basic Income&quot; is used to describe various proposals to address inequality and unemployment in developed countries where economic gains and jobs are being automated away from the masses of low-skilled workers and up to the elite of high-skilled workers. This is far from the sub-Saharan African context where the economy is still developing and leaders are mulling how best to sustainably extract countries from extreme poverty.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mitsloan.mit.edu&#x2F;faculty-and-research&#x2F;faculty-directory&#x2F;detail&#x2F;?id=41285" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mitsloan.mit.edu&#x2F;faculty-and-research&#x2F;faculty-directo...</a>