Political Memes

The thing about UBI is that it doesn't really lend itself well to limited pilots. Being both "Universal" and "Limited" doesn't make much sense. So it's really hard to assert evidence one way or the other about what that would look like in full.

There are some "accidental" universal income scenarios like the Alaska permanent fund, but they fall short of being even "basic " income.

So you have some means tested experiments where a small selection of people get a limited term benefit among a broader population that didn't. In those scenarios the people seem to make the most of the opportunity, using that relief to prepare themselves for a more viable living after the benefit wears out. It certainly shows that people well tend to be more responsible than conservatives assume given a chance, but doesn't show what happens to the economy when all the participants assume that basic level of income, e.g so the rents just go up and erase the benefit and everything is at the same level.

I've seen some assert that more regulated basic needs would be better. If you just throw UBI and let free market reign, the businesses may ruin it. Public housing, healthcare, and basic food might do wonders more good at long as the government responsibiliy manages it instead of letting the businesses just do their thing...