Just about every other economically advanced country in the world approached the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in the smartest, most humane way. They gave people money. Just like that. They used a variety of schemes—payroll subsidies for companies or regular—weekly or monthly--direct payments to people. But they made sure that even when people couldn’t go to work, or when their jobs disappeared, they weren’t going to drown. The rest of the developed world—and now charities in the U.S.—have figured out that some form of universal basic income can be a way to keep an economy and a citizenry afloat, all the time, but also in times of real crisis.  Read more