Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Premack. On today's show, America's sin industries look to consolidate and the new technologies that are guzzling tons of energy.

But first, the growing calls for universal basic income. So for those who haven't heard the term before, universal

basic income is an idea that governments should provide citizens with what's effectively a stipend,

a certain amount of money per month or per year that would help keep roofs overheads and meals

on plates. Kind of like welfare, but unconditional. Now, this is an old idea. It goes back to the 1500s, but it's

certainly not the sort of thing that screams out American capitalism. That said, it has received

a lot of attention lately as left-leaning folks have ascended in the Democratic Party circles,

even though the party's most notable lefty leaders haven't yet quite embraced it. It's also

getting talked a lot

about in Silicon Valley, as it's publicly intrigued both Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. And for those

old enough to remember, it's not entirely dissimilar, at least in purpose, from the negative

income tax that Republican President Richard Nixon once proposed for low earners.

So two other things to know. First, expect calls for UBI to only increase, particularly

an age of increased automation and possibly a job-killing recession on top of it. And second,

there isn't really any broad historical precedent for implementing UBI, as most tests in other countries have been

kind of small, limited pilot programs, or really just a reworking of existing welfare programs.

The bottom line, if you pay attention to the Democratic primary campaigns that begin next year,

or simply happen to live in states like Iowa or New Hampshire, you're going to hear a whole

lot about UBI, maybe not

always from candidates, but certainly from constituents. In 15 seconds, though, we will be joined by a

2020 presidential candidate who is talking a lot about UBI, Andy Yang. But first, this.

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