MATS fellow essay: four reasons UBI isn't a durable fix for AI-driven unemployment
luke_drago_ · x · 2026-11-11
MATS fellow Sanjana Iyer argues UBI fails as a durable answer to AI unemployment: no capital ownership, no bargaining power (undermining democracy), extractive systems adapt by taxing remaining scarce assets, and rising reference points keep people feeling poor. She also analyzes alternatives like universal basic capital/compute, windfall clauses, and datacenter dividends, pitching gradual disempowerment as the frame for durable post-labor institutions.
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