Professor Lee Jung-gu of Seoul National University: "Basic Income Is Not Populism of the Progressive Camp"

Professor Lee Jung-gu, Department of Economics, Seoul National University

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Professor Lee Joon-gu of the Department of Economics at Seoul National University drew attention by directly refuting the arguments of basic income opponents, stating that "basic income is not populism of the progressive camp."

On the 7th and 8th, Professor Lee posted on the Seoul National University Department of Economics bulletin board and his SNS an article titled "There are many conservative-leaning economists who support the basic income system," arguing that "when calculating the taxes individuals pay to the government and the money they receive from the government, there is almost no difference between selective welfare and basic income," and "rather, basic income can reduce administrative waste that may occur in the process of selecting welfare recipients."

Professor Lee particularly mentioned, "The person who first proposed the basic income system was Milton Friedman of the University of Chicago, who can be considered an icon of conservatism, and the economists currently supporting basic income have diverse tendencies ranging from conservative to progressive," adding, "It is far from reality to see basic income as a representative agenda of the progressive camp."

He continued, "Nicholas Gregory Mankiw, a leading conservative economist in the United States and a professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, also actively supported the basic income system as a co-author of his book 'Combating Inequality,'" introducing Mankiw as a conservative economist.

He further emphasized, "Mankiw argued through a comparative analysis of selective welfare policy A and basic income policy B that there is fundamentally no difference between the two methods," explaining, "When calculating the amount each individual receives from the government minus the amount they pay in taxes, the results of policy A or B are almost the same regardless of income level."

Professor Lee added, "Even if basic income is paid to the wealthy, taxes increase accordingly, so there is no difference between selective welfare and basic income," and explained, "Especially conservative economists highly value basic income because it is administratively simpler when selecting recipients, reducing waste that may occur in the selective welfare process."

Furthermore, he said, "Many criticize the method of paying to all citizens as absurd populism of the progressive camp, but Mankiw, an icon of conservatism, argues that it is better to pay uniformly to all citizens rather than providing selective support," adding, "(I) do not particularly like Mankiw, but his logic on this point is hard to refute."

Following Professor Lee's post on the Seoul National University bulletin board, many students wrote comments saying they reconsidered basic income.

User ID 'WXXXX' wrote, "I was not favorable to the basic income system because I was worried it would place a heavy burden on finances," and added, "I agree that Mankiw's logic is hard to deny. It seems most necessary to accurately inform how high-level discussions are taking place in academia. I believe that is the duty of intellectuals."

User ID 'AppXX' expressed doubts about the practical applicability of basic income but stated, "(After reading Professor Lee's post) I reconsidered the basic income system."

User ID 'CXX' reacted, "It is somewhat surprising that Friedman advocated basic income."

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