What would Keynes do?

[Sandia]

We were debating Keynes' correctness, not the best way to spend money. Though I suspect we'll have TSA on trains the exact second a terrorist is confirmed taking a few of them out but your point is sound. I'll for building high speed rail around the the country. Pay some nerds to figure out what the ideal routes are with minimal fucking with extant structures and green light that shit.

Tax breaks probably wouldn't do for this, it's just not aggressive enough.

People doing nothing are creating nothing. True. But the fact the matter again is that we don't need people creating something in the modern world. They don't get fed if they don't work but as the military proves taking a bunch of kids and making them blow shit up is sufficient. Or in short employment=/=creating stuff.

Keynes of course had an answer for THAT as well, shorten the work day, week whatever and increase vacation time. Which would artificially decrease available labor and increase it's value by a corresponding amount.

We don't need more people to work. We could just give everyone an allowance, and have a better system than we have now. But if we want more stuff, and better stuff - and many people do - putting unemployed people to work is the best way to do that.

 

[Sean Renaud]

We don't need more people to work. We could just give everyone an allowance, and have a better system than we have now. But if we want more stuff, and better stuff - and many people do - putting unemployed people to work is the best way to do that.

There is no reason to believe that your first statement wouldn't lead to the latter. Those people with allowances are still gonna want to see Hawaii and now they'll have the time to do it. So someone needs to make the plane, fly the plane, perform maintenence etc etc.

A lot of the stuff on the internet, Facebook and Youtube being the best but not only examples are things made by people who had the time to spare to work on their personal passions.

Note: Not saying we should put people on an allowance, though that may not be the worst plan in the universe.

 

[Sandia]

There is no reason to believe that your first statement wouldn't lead to the latter. Those people with allowances are still gonna want to see Hawaii and now they'll have the time to do it. So someone needs to make the plane, fly the plane, perform maintenence etc etc.

A lot of the stuff on the internet, Facebook and Youtube being the best but not only examples are things made by people who had the time to spare to work on their personal passions.

Note: Not saying we should put people on an allowance, though that may not be the worst plan in the universe.

No, I'm not saying people would stop working if there was a guaranteed income. I'm saying there would be more stuff created, and less poverty. It'd be a better system than the one we have now.

But you could get to the same result by lowering taxes and increasing government spending. And a guaranteed income is a political non-starter anyhow.