Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1355-1357

Investments in affordable and social housing are remarkably cost-effective. Especially in periods of economic instability, every dollar invested in social and affordable housing reaps a dividend. The Mowat Centre estimates every dollar spent on housing investments results in a $1.52 increase in real GDP. Furthermore, providing better housing can result in cost savings. The average cost of a shelter bed in Toronto in 2012 was over $52 per night, adding up to $1,500 per month. For context, the average monthly rent for a bachelor apartment in Toronto in 2012 was $840, 44 percent cheaper. For people with mental health issues or who have experienced chronic homelessness, stable affordable housing results in significant savings in use of health and emergency services.Access to housing – HEIA in the Federal Election
September 22, 2015 by Wellesley Institute
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 In a 2014 paper called "Food Stamp Entrepreneurs," Gareth Olds, a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University, found during the expansion of welfare programs in the early 2000s, there was a 16% boost in households owning incorporated businesses. For immigrants, enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program increased business ownership likelihood to 28%.

What's most striking is that many of the entrepreneurs who ended up starting their businesses weren't actually cashing in on those food stamps. Just knowing there was a safety net available incentivized them to take more risks.

But what happens when you give money to those who don't necessarily need it? One study from Nattavudh Powdthavee of Singapore's Nanyang Technological Institute showed in a group of lottery winners, unearned income "improves traits that predict pro-social and cooperative behaviors, preferences for social contact, empathy, and gregariousness, as well as reduce individuals' tendency to experience negative emotional states." In other words, acquiring unexpected funds that are untethered to job performance helped make them more empathetic, happy and social.

Jack Smith IV

Can Basic Income Bring About the Next CreativeRenaissance?

Tech.Mic

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Basic minimum income makes sense economically, and it could lead to important social benefits too. Crime rates would likely decrease because people wouldn't need to steal to survive. More Americans would have the opportunity to raise families or complete their education when they're not working three jobs just to get by. And, a minimum income would ensure that no one would be denied their basic human dignity by being forced to live in squalor in the richest nation of the face of the Earth. These are not extreme ideas. When you consider the economic, social, and moral benefits, a basic minimum income just makes sense.

 It's time for a basic minimum income!

Mar. 28, 2014

By Thom Hartmann

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