Yaron Brook: Universal basic income would ‘better’ than what we have now – but there’s a catch

Yaron Brook and a free market-supporting caller talked about universal basic income on this week’s episode of “The Yaron Brook Show.”

Michael, a caller who identified himself as a free-market capitalist who has read Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman, wondered if there is an argument to be made for universal basic income since Friedman supported it. The American economist received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and was known as an advocate for the free market.

The argument for universal basic income, or a form of social security that gives each citizen a regular sum of money, is that it would be less expensive than the current tangled mess of welfare, entitlements and other government programs funded with taxpayer money.

Yaron clarified that yes, a basic income would be a "marginal improvement" compared to what we have now because it would cost less, but it’s far from being the best option because it still means forcibly taking away money from people to give to other people.

“Are we arguing for improving the existing system, or are we arguing for a real revolution, a laissez-faire capitalist revolution?” Yaron asked.

See more from Yaron on TheBlaze Contributors channel and listen to “The Yaron Brook Show” live every Sunday from 2pm-4pm ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.