Sound good, but why wouldn't it work?
Discussion
Morning all,
Over a few pints last night, my mate suggested a way to get rid of poverty. It sounds dumb and obviously won't work, but I'm struggling to find a reason why.
Over, say, four years, the government gives every uk adult over 30 £1M. Then rolls it out to everone that turns 30.
The conditions are :-
That person can never claim for unemployment benefits.
Must buy a property to live in.
Any purchases over £5000 must be UK manufactured or has to pay an extra 20% tax
Must get at least basic medical insurance or have to pay NHS fees.
As everyone over 30 is a Millionaire, any of that money not spent when they die goes back to the Gov.
People would still work, £1M over 40-50 yrs isnt a lot so gov would get roughly the same. They would save £Ms on NHS cost, even more on unemployment benefits and housing. Money from people buying goods made here plus the insensitive for foreign manufacturing to start building here.
Like I said, it can't work, but why not?
Over a few pints last night, my mate suggested a way to get rid of poverty. It sounds dumb and obviously won't work, but I'm struggling to find a reason why.
Over, say, four years, the government gives every uk adult over 30 £1M. Then rolls it out to everone that turns 30.
The conditions are :-
That person can never claim for unemployment benefits.
Must buy a property to live in.
Any purchases over £5000 must be UK manufactured or has to pay an extra 20% tax
Must get at least basic medical insurance or have to pay NHS fees.
As everyone over 30 is a Millionaire, any of that money not spent when they die goes back to the Gov.
People would still work, £1M over 40-50 yrs isnt a lot so gov would get roughly the same. They would save £Ms on NHS cost, even more on unemployment benefits and housing. Money from people buying goods made here plus the insensitive for foreign manufacturing to start building here.
Like I said, it can't work, but why not?
Put simply what happens to house prices? You can now afford a much nicer house, excited everyone else can also afford it so prices go up to match. You now have a bigger mortgage, so your wage goes up, your employers costs go up, inflation. No one under 30 can afford to buy a house, we're back where we started.
The usual suspects would rely on this cash drop at 30, so concentrate less at school etc
Prices of houses would just go through the roof
I believe in the UAE. if you are born there you get a plot of land or similar when you become an adult, someone more informed will confirm or deny this
Prices of houses would just go through the roof
I believe in the UAE. if you are born there you get a plot of land or similar when you become an adult, someone more informed will confirm or deny this
What you've described is a form of communism and there are no examples of any form of communism providing lasting benefit (compared to capitalism) to the society it serves.
In addition to the point above...
To start with, the poverty affects a very small percentage of society (having worked in places like Sierra Leone, I struggle whenever we use the term 'poverty' in a UK context but that's a topic for another thread). And there are a great many people over the age of 30 who have no need for such support. A surprisingly large number of millionaires too! So why give them money they don't need?
Secondly, the government would need to borrow a very significant amount of money to make this happen. This costs a lot of money and exposes the country's public services to the vagaries of interest rates which over time can vary significantly.
And in order that the conditions you've described are upheld, very considerable levels of administration will be required and complex legislation needed to regulate it. The cost of this (and that described in point 2) would most likely be significantly more than any fiscal benefit the country might achieve.
In addition to the point above...
To start with, the poverty affects a very small percentage of society (having worked in places like Sierra Leone, I struggle whenever we use the term 'poverty' in a UK context but that's a topic for another thread). And there are a great many people over the age of 30 who have no need for such support. A surprisingly large number of millionaires too! So why give them money they don't need?
Secondly, the government would need to borrow a very significant amount of money to make this happen. This costs a lot of money and exposes the country's public services to the vagaries of interest rates which over time can vary significantly.
And in order that the conditions you've described are upheld, very considerable levels of administration will be required and complex legislation needed to regulate it. The cost of this (and that described in point 2) would most likely be significantly more than any fiscal benefit the country might achieve.
Spare tyre said:
I believe in the UAE. if you are born there you get a plot of land or similar when you become an adult, someone more informed will confirm or deny this
A number of the gulf states do something similar. Though you actually need to be a citizen, not just born there. It's actually similar here in Kazakh, though with all the open space & small population the value of land is not great!.
steveo3002 said:
I've spent it all on scratch cards and red bull and cant feed my kids /pay rent /elec bill ...what now ?
Is the correct answerthen once you add in, supply and demand issues which mean PS5's are now £0.2m mill as no one can get them.
crime as everyone now has nice cars, which they can't buy, because everyone has one, except they don't because they cost £5m each.
no one does s
tty jobs as they don't need to, except they do, because they're now being paid £15m a year.then exports collapse as the pound is worthless and no one wants to import as the pound is valueless.
then we're all millionaires buying nothing as no one is making anything and starving to death as no one is growing anything.
People don't work when they are given a free house and benefits as it it, what makes you think people will work if they are given a million?
Following the 4% rule I'd expect 70% of people wouldn't get a job meaning you'd have to pay 60 or 70k a year for a cleaner or it just wouldn't be worth it.
Following the 4% rule I'd expect 70% of people wouldn't get a job meaning you'd have to pay 60 or 70k a year for a cleaner or it just wouldn't be worth it.
It is a silly idea for many reasons, a few:
- Given that a huge proportion will have £1m of buying power it will push the price of regular goods up as there is only so much supply.
- Government Cashflow as mentioned
- Most of the human population are utterly stupid i.e. they'll spend it all on drugs and alchohol rather than put solid foundations for their lives down.
and not forgetting, if this did happen, what would happen to the masses of people who either spent it all but needed support or the people who need support from the welfare state and no amount of money would make their life better? Do they just go live in shanty towns?
- Given that a huge proportion will have £1m of buying power it will push the price of regular goods up as there is only so much supply.
- Government Cashflow as mentioned
- Most of the human population are utterly stupid i.e. they'll spend it all on drugs and alchohol rather than put solid foundations for their lives down.
and not forgetting, if this did happen, what would happen to the masses of people who either spent it all but needed support or the people who need support from the welfare state and no amount of money would make their life better? Do they just go live in shanty towns?
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