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Guess Who’s Supporting a Guaranteed Income for All Americans

IQ-Squared sponsored a debate last Sunday on a “universal basic income” proposal — the idea of giving every American adult $1,000 a month and instantly ending poverty. You can watch the debate here: http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org.

The four debaters were:
–Charles Murray (AEI scholar and a “libertarian”)
–Andrew Stern (former president of a service union and scholar at Economic Security Project)
–Jared Bernstein, chief economist for Joe Biden
–Jason Furman, former director of Council of Economic Advisors under Obama

Now, you would think that Bernstein and Furman, both social Democrats who worked under the Obama administration, would support a universal income policy and that Charles Murray, the libertarian who favors limited government, would oppose it.

But no! Murray supports it and Berstein and Furman strongly oppose it.

Is Universal Income Plan (UIP) a Good Idea?

If I had been on the debate, I would have sided with the social Democrats. The problem with the UIP is that it violates the A&W principles that I teach my students in economics. A stands for “accountability,” meaning the user pays. W stands for “welfare” — you help those who need help but you don’t help those who don’t need help. The problem with UIP is that it gives $1,000 a month to everyone, including the rich people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. What a waste of money — and it is needlessly costly to taxpayers. The tax bill would have to double each year to pay for this program’s cost of $1.7 trillion a year.

If you are going to have an automatic way to help the poor, why not adopt Milton Friedman’s idea of a negative income tax? That way, the public funds only go to the poor, and not to the wealthy.

Exclusive Why the Next Market Move Doesn’t Matter

Who won the debate? The audience was swayed strongly against the motion. It was a vote for liberty!

Upcoming Appearances

New Orleans Investment Conference, New Orleans Hilton, Oct. 25-28: I’ve spoken at this “granddaddy of hard-money conferences” since 1977! This year’s keynote speakers include Fox News host Tucker Carlson, contributor Charles Krauthammer, real estate mogul Robert Kiyosaki and commodity guru Dennis Gartman. For full information, go to http://neworleansconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/NOIC2017_skousen.html or call toll-free 1-800-648-8411.

In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my e-letter from last week about how my gross output (GO) predicted a bounce back in the market.

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Low-Priced Stock Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/