Cash, Trust, and a New Social Contract (Full)
Recipients were two percentage points less likely to work — and critics called that proof people quit when you pay them. Dr. Elizabeth Rhodes ran the longest unconditional cash study in U.S. history: 1,000 people, $1,000 a month, three years. Below the poverty line, nobody worked less. People spent the money on rent, food, and kids, but the financial boost faded to nearly nothing by year three. Rhodes says cash can't fix broken healthcare, childcare, or housing markets — and proposes a $12,000 lump sum upfront plus monthly payments. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley land on \"Social Security for all ages\" as the rebrand that might actually move the needle.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) A thousand people, a thousand dollars, three years – what actually happened
- (01:13) What a social worker catches – the gap economists walk right past
- (04:03) A blog post became a decade-long study – Sam Altman's role and limits
- (05:34) NIH, NSF, and full independence – keeping the science clean
- (10:51) 14,000 screened, 3,000 enrolled – Facebook ads, SNAP apps, random mailers
- (12:04) Two percentage points less employed – why critics grabbed the wrong headline
- (16:00) Housing, food, kids – where every dollar actually went
- (17:17) The ordinariness that matters – driving, social time, stuff around the house
- (19:07) Everyone wanted a business, nobody started one – what that really means
- (20:46) The boost that faded by year three – and why year-three worry kicked in
- (22:37) What she'd tell a senator tomorrow – the one design choice
- (31:52) Steel-manning her own study – three years and $1,000 proves nothing about national UBI
- (35:55) What if the jobs don't come back – her data gets uncomfortable
- (47:19) \"Scarcity makes people responsible\" — false – lightning round
- (50:12) Social Security for all ages – Dave and Jerremy close the knowledge gap
Connect:
- Dr. Elizabeth Rhodes – Website
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