Interesting Links for 05-05-2020

[andrewducker]

Vote Leave AI firm wins seven government contracts in 18 months (seems to be connected to the people running the tracking app)

(tags:UK Europe NHS OhForFucksSake )

Nearly a quarter of British employees furloughed in last fortnight

(tags:UK employment pandemic )

The Hidden Rules of Conversation

(tags:language communication video conversation )

Apple and Google provide first look of COVID-19 tracing in iOS and Android

(tags:Apple Google Android ios pandemic )

Experts Doubt the Sun Is Burning Coal (1863)

(tags:history science sun )

Edinburgh artist creates beautiful images of what the city would look like overgrown

(tags:nature Edinburgh art )

'Time has come' for universal basic income, says Sturgeon

(tags:Scotland GuaranteedIncome viaCharlesStross )

UK COVID-19 contact-tracing app data may be kept for 'research' after crisis ends

(tags:NHS privacy apps pandemic )

Comments

Re: Universal Basic Income

[penta]

I can see the appeal, but also a bit of reason to worry.

The moment you have UBI, the government suddenly has an incredible need to limit population growth as a way of controlling budgetary expansion. I could see one-child policies not merely happening in China...

Re: Universal Basic Income

[andrewducker]

More people generate more money. I'd expect that to be true under a system with UBI.

(Also, the replenishment rate in Europe is already lower than necessary to keep the population stable)

Re: Universal Basic Income

[dewline]

And population replenishment is a continuing issue in Canada as well. It's why pre-Pandemic policy was pushing for immigration as a net positive activity, and why the federal "baby bonus" cheques are still standing practice as well here.

Re: Universal Basic Income

[anna_wing]

Not an issue in any developed or richer developing country, most of which are already below replacement from local births. There might be problems with immigrants, I suppose, though that could be dealt with quite easily by limiting economic migrants' right to acquire citizenship, the way a lot of Asian and Middle-eastern countries do.