watch the videos related to negative income tax and universal basic income below (about 20 minutes total), and then briefly respond to the questions that are listed below the videos (using either in the Canvas text entry option or by uploading a file).

focused on the minimum wage and ideas/beliefs about the role of government in promoting equitable outcomes in society (some believing government should be more involved and others believing government should be less involved). Given that there are a mix of costs and benefits associated with a higher minimum wage, some people (both conservatives and liberals) view the idea of either a negative income tax or universal basic income as being a more effective approach to providing stability for those living in/near poverty. As you may remember from "The Other America" speech, Dr. King was a proponent of implementing a guaranteed minimum income to address poverty in the United States (some of his thoughts/rationale related to this can been seen between 33:16 and 38:11 of the video posted on the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWDtDUKz-U

While the negative income tax has been promoted by conservatives including Milton Friedman and universal basic income is oftentimes promoted by those with more liberal beliefs (such as Andrew Yang, who was among those running for President in the 2020 primary elections), they are essentially the same idea and implementing either of these policy options would allow for the elimination of the minimum wage. By using another approach to provide economic stability for those with lower incomes, we would eliminate the negative aspects of a minimum wage while arguably achieving the same or better benefits for those living in some of the most challenging circumstances (including those who work 40 or more hours per week, manage their money fairly well, and still struggle to pay basic living expenses).

Given Milton Friedman's ideas about the the more limited role of government, many conservatives and libertarians are surprised when they learn that he promoted a negative income tax, and taking some time to read or listen to Friedman's thoughts regarding a negative income tax and also learn more about universal basic income can be eye-opening. With this in mind, watch the following five videos below and then respond to the questions below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6z3tcJsDsY Milton Friedman on the Negative Income Tax (less than 2 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZakHrQ1m34M More Detail on the Negative Income Tax (less than 3 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XY0Lumu1Q8 Discussion on Negative Income Tax vs. Existing Welfare Programs (about 2 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl39KHS07Xc Universal Basic Income Explained (about 10 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgcvtjoi8Bs Andrew Yang's on his "Freedom Dividend" UBI Proposal (about 3 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRpEV2tmYz4 Milton Friedman on Wealth Distribution / 100% Inheritance Tax (about 4 minutes)

After watching and maybe reflecting on the videos, write short responses for each of the questions below:

1. Have you learned about negative incomes taxes and/or universal basic income before?

If so, was the information in these videos consistent with the what you learned before?

If not, were these economic policy ideas what you expected them to be (based on their names)?

2. What stood out to you as being most important/relevant in terms of the costs and benefits associated with either a negative income tax or universal basic income?

3. Does it seem that these proposals are better than the current welfare system we use in the United States (involving unemployment insurance, minimum wage, rent-control/rent support, food support, healthcare support, childcare support, and many other government programs at the federal, state, and/or local level that people generally need to qualify and apply for)?