On Thu, 29 Jun 2000, I wrote:
>
> While the idea is nice (and doable with an enormous "if"), there are a
> couple tough problems with it. First of all, you need to start with an
> enormous positive cash balance to make the system economically viable; a
> Ponzi scheme would quickly collapse and the taxation required would
> destroy the economy. Accruing a real surplus this large is virtually
> unheard of for any government of significance -- "easier for a camel to
> pass through the eye of a needle...".
On further reflection, it occurs to me that this is not economically
viable for large first world countries (such as the U.S.) because the
figures required for any hope of solvency would be pushing way past the
capitalization of the entire planet, never mind what is possible
for a single country of any size economy. I'm pretty sure I've come to
this conclusion in the past, but Minimum Income and similar systems are
only realistically viable for relatively small groups of people situated
in large and active economies.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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