Consider the prospect of a city just giving money to low-income folks, regularly, with no strings attached. You can imagine a conservative's pessimism: They'll quit their jobs and waste taxpayer dollars! Or a progressive's optimism: No, they'll use it as a springboard to improved housing, education, and self-sufficiency!
We needn't dwell much longer in the hypothetical. Dozens of cities and counties across the United States are already trying guaranteed basic income (GBI)— that is, the consistent and unconditional transfer of public funds to residents below a certain income threshold. The City of St. Louis is gearing up to join them. The question is how it should do so.
The idea of an income floor is centuries old. Variants