I'm not sure public works projects were/are a waste---if you were working on the Hoover Dam or even the unfinished Wilson Dam you were gaining valuable construction skills which are even today in high demand. Not to mention public work projects often have economic benefits that payoff the initial investment many times over. Even the trail building jobs in national parks and forests are still appreciated 90 years later. We have sidewalks here in Silver City,NM with a 1938 WPA stamp in them (!)
UBI, well, you'll get better at ordering pizza online, lol.
Yeah, I recognize that many of them were successful, the Hoover Dam and the interstate system chief among them, having immense ROI. Others, not so much. My point is that, at best, UBI is no better than a failed public works project (and as you point out, worse after considering new skills). Public works are better than UBI, but they were a stepping stone in the direction of unemployment insurance and future welfare policies like UBI, which are to worse.
I'm not sure public works projects were/are a waste---if you were working on the Hoover Dam or even the unfinished Wilson Dam you were gaining valuable construction skills which are even today in high demand. Not to mention public work projects often have economic benefits that payoff the initial investment many times over. Even the trail building jobs in national parks and forests are still appreciated 90 years later. We have sidewalks here in Silver City,NM with a 1938 WPA stamp in them (!)
UBI, well, you'll get better at ordering pizza online, lol.
Yeah, I recognize that many of them were successful, the Hoover Dam and the interstate system chief among them, having immense ROI. Others, not so much. My point is that, at best, UBI is no better than a failed public works project (and as you point out, worse after considering new skills). Public works are better than UBI, but they were a stepping stone in the direction of unemployment insurance and future welfare policies like UBI, which are to worse.