So on Rogan Yang specifically said the $1k would not be on top of other federal welfare/SSI expenditures. Unfortunately, he wasn't clear on those bureaucracies being completely folded. Better, but still not best. What people don't understand is that the 1k will likely drive up inelastic goods costs (housing), while the VAT to cover the UBI would drive up the costs of consumer goods. Still rock and a hard place, instead of a rock. Yang is simply arguing that automation is going to create that rock and a hard place with unemployment and current pricing.
From a behavioral perspective, I'm interested in how a UBI will exacerbate, rather than help smooth inequality, even if larger economic concerns turn out to be baseless (inflation, etc). I expect a quick and permanent drop in labor force participation (in advance of automation) rather than everyone suddenly feeling "free to pursue their dreams," at least as idealized (as by Yang, for instance). Interested in possible offsets in mental health problems: less mental health difficulties from money struggles, and more due to lack of purpose and meaning.
Also interested in how joblessness with a financial cushion affects physical health. Will people find more time to live more healthily? Or will they become greater couch potatoes. Of course there's a huge interaction between mental and physical health, so that has to figure in.
