Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, believes that free cash is a better way to insulate workers from economic shocks and technological disruption.
The universal basic income (UBI) Evangelist told CNBC on the sidelines of the Bitcoin Miami conference that a measure passed by Congress to release trillions of dollars in funding for the economicStimulus checks comprise about 17% of the money issued with the CARES Act.
Where did the rest of the money go? It ended up in institutions. It went to the pipes, said Yang, who ran for New York City mayor and U.S. president on a platform advocating for guaranteed monthly payments from the government to all citizens.
Money in people's hands for a couple of months last year was a very unimportant factor, in that most of that money has already been spent, and inflation continues to rise.
In March, consumer prices rose 8.5%, the largest increase since 1981 The surge in inflation has a lot to do with the fact that there aren't enough goods to go around, so people are feeling demand.
Everyone is concerned about inflation. I am concerned about the fact that it is making a lot of Americans miserable, because it is a very difficult circumstance when your expenses are climbing, and maybe your income is not keeping pace.
Some argue that the case for bitcoin as a hedge against inflation is due to the erosion of the dollar's spending power.
The interest level is going to rise as people seek alternatives in terms of how to store value.
Savings accounts were only paying 1% or 2% max.
Cryptocurrencies are not just an inflation hedge. His grand vision for widespread UBI roll-out could be realized by them.
The intersection is very significant because if you want to get buying power in people's hands, one tool to do so is the U.S. dollar. He believes that new currencies will emerge from the public sector.
He said that you can have communities experimenting with local currencies that will help drive people to local small businesses and nonprofits that may not be getting the support they need.
Similar to how Beijing is considering attaching expiration dates and other spending rules to its digital yuan, a similar model could work well in the U.S.
No one thinks about getting a U.S. dollar, it will expire or be used in one place and not another, and it can only be used in one place. These are utilities that we should be experimenting with in different settings.
Mark Cuban suggested sending cash cards that can only be used at locally owned small businesses, where the money expires in two weeks, in order to drive activity. Those are the kinds of things that cryptocurrencies enable, and the U.S. dollars don't.
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