One question I haven’t heard yet about Yang’s “Freedom Dividend”

That $1000 a month for every American sounded like a gimmick to me when I first saw memes about it popping up in my Twitter feed. Maybe Andrew Yang was going to ride that hype and start a clothing line after the primaries.

Thanks to several excellent long form interviews he’s given, it’s clear to me now that there’s a whole lot more to that monthly payment, and he may just make it past the primaries. I’m intrigued.

The Freedom Dividend could be a way to ease folks away from inhibiting entitlements (the limits on both the individual and what they may use them for) and drastically reduce administrative burdens along the way. It provides incentive for many vocations not represented in the marketplace, and most importantly might provide a cushion for our full transition into the Information Age.

There is one big lingering question for me, though, that I at least haven’t caught the half dozen or so bright people I’ve seen interview him ask:

For those working regular jobs, is it possible the employers could simply accept the $1000/mo as a raise they no longer need to give? Or, even start people at a lower wage because of the supplement?

I’m not an academic or an economist, but it seems like wholesale raising the bar for everyone could create a sort of inflation. Would love hear a scholarly take on this, or even from the man himself. Maybe this will come up at the debates.