Recode Decode: Why do some in the tech community support universal basic income?

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business, Technology

4.2 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2018

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Journalist Annie Lowrey talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World." Lowrey says there's ample evidence from countries like India, Brazil and Mexico that giving a small amount of cash directly to poor people can make their lives better without discouraging them from getting a job. She explains that some early experiments in the U.S., including one being run by startup incubator Y Combinator, are motivated by a fear that artificial intelligence and other new technologies will make the world better — at the expense of everyone's happiness and job stability. Lowrey explains why a national universal basic income is unlikely to happen anytime soon in America, and why rich people are usually wrong when they claim they get no assistance from the government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks to Zip Recuder, which is the presenting sponsor of RECO Decode and the smartest way to hire.
0:05.0	The ground is always shifting in the tech world. A constant barrage of new programs, platforms,
0:10.0	competitors, and regulations make running a tech company a wild ride.
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0:23.0	to actively find people with the right experience and bites them to apply to your job.
0:27.0	If you're hiring, it's time to get smart. Try Zip Recuder for free right now at ziprecuder.com slash decode
0:34.0	at ziprecuder.com slash decode.
0:40.0	Hi, I'm Cara Swisher, Editor at Large at RECO. You may know me as someone who thinks universal basic income is too much.
0:46.0	Let's just focus on Earth, but in my spare time, I talk tech and you're listening to RECO Decode
0:51.0	from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:54.0	Today in the red chair is Annie Lowry, who writes about economic policy for the Atlantic.
0:59.0	Her new book is called Give People Money, How a Universal Basic Income
1:03.0	Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World.
1:07.0	Annie, well that's a lot of stuff.
1:08.0	I know, it's a very, very grandiose style.
1:11.0	I know, wow, it's going to solve all our problems.
1:13.0	Yeah, something like that.
1:15.0	All right, so let's talk about how you got to do this book.
1:17.0	Yeah, you are, let me just by way of disclosure, Annie is married to Ezra Klein
1:21.0	and I don't really care if she is, but Ezra does another podcast at Vox Media,
	...

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