Nicklaus: Guaranteed income is a noble idea, but St. Louis can afford only a small experiment

Nicklaus: Guaranteed income is a noble idea, but St. Louis can afford only a small experiment

It sounds like a no-brainer: The way to alleviate poverty is to give poor people more money.

That’s the reasoning behind St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ push to provide some residents a guaranteed income, and it’s sound logic. Experiments in other cities show that recipients use the checks for basic needs, not luxuries or vices.

The question is whether the city can dole out enough money to make a real difference in people’s lives.A bill introduced this month in the Board of Aldermen would set aside $5 million of federal stimulus money to launch a guaranteed income program. If it […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.