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Universalism

One of the defining conflicts of economic discourse today is the debate over whether government programs should be 'targeted' to particular demographics - such as stimulus payments only going to those who earn less than $75,000 per year - or if they should be 'universal', provided to all citizens (and taxed to adjust distribution afterwards).

Universal programs boast the virtue of simplicity, while carrying the burden of size. Universal programs require far less bureaucracy, since no determination of who is eligible for payments is required. Advocates suggest that society can still tailor the distributional effects of universal programs by taxing 'on the backend'. But universal programs thus carry significantly higher gross costs, and require greater disbursement of public funds up front.

Targeted programs effectively 'tax on the frontend', adjusting the distribution of a program before giving it out. Thus, they have smaller price tags, but require more complex infrastructure to keep track of eligibility and adjust accordingly.
A universal earned income tax credit (refundable up to the first $10,000 on income) would cost roughly $1.3 trillion per year. Trapezoidal income support structures (like the Earned Income Tax Credit) may fail as an economy-wide stabilizer during periods of economic recession. In the USA, the 1970's reforms to the welfare system that introduced targeted cash transfer programs conditional on work were associated with higher infant mortality rates. “ When payment is conditional on work or narrowly targeted, basic income will increase workers’ market dependence and facilitate exploitation, but when it is generous, broadly available, and crucially, delinked from work, it will obstruct exploitation.” Universal welfare programs do not act as employer subsidies, while programs conditional on work might, though not overwhelmingly so. Cash transfer studies in the developing world have found positive impacts on: income, assets, savings, borrowing, total expenditure, food expenditure, dietary diversity, school attendance, test scores, cognitive development, use of health facilities, labor force participation, child labor migration, domestic violence, women's empowerment, marriage, fertility, and use of contraception.
Do cash transfer programmes yield better health in the first year of life? A systematic review linking low-income/middle-income and high-income contexts Does a Guaranteed Basic Income Encourage Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Alaska The Case for Welfare State Universalism Basic Income, Inequality, and Unemployment: Rethinking the Linkage between Work and Welfare Child Tax Credit and Maternal Labor Supply Cash Transfers and Temptation Goods
Steven P. Miller Akshay Rajaram Arjumand Siddiqi Daniel Kuehn Robert Feinberg Alain Noël Olivier Jacques Catherine Cavanagh
Basic Income Land Value Tax Social Wealth Fund
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