Elizabeth Rhodes from OpenResearch and Kate Conger from New York Times discuss memes about Kamala Harris and the potential of universal basic income. They explore tech industry alliances, UBI impacts on health and employment, and a cybersecurity debacle caused by CrowdStrike's faulty update.
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Quick takeaways
Universal Basic Income (UBI) showed reduced stress initially, varied spending patterns based on income levels, and sparked entrepreneurship interest among underrepresented groups.
Sam Altman is contemplating Universal Basic Compute as an alternative to UBI, expanding the discussion beyond monetary support to include computing power for individuals.
The CrowdStrike global IT outage underscores the critical need for robust software testing procedures and a secure online infrastructure to prevent future cyber incidents.
Deep dives
Impact of Cash Transfers on Mental Health
Receiving cash transfers of $1,000 monthly initially reduced stress and mental distress among participants in the study. However, these benefits diminished in subsequent years, with various factors contributing to this change, including external influences like expiring pandemic-related aids and adjustments to new circumstances.
Spending Patterns of Cash Transfers
The majority of participants primarily utilized the cash transfers for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing. Additionally, financial support to others was a significant expense. Spending patterns varied based on individual starting income levels, indicating differing impacts of cash amounts at various income strata.
Effects on Employment and Entrepreneurship
Participants receiving $1,000 monthly showed a modest decrease in employment likelihood and hours worked, with an average reduction of 1.3 hours per week. However, there was an increase in entrepreneurship interest and business ideas, though not universally translating into business ventures. Notably, there was a notable rise in business initiation among underrepresented groups by the study's third year.
The Shift Towards Universal Basic Compute
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and a proponent of universal basic income (UBI), is considering a shift towards universal basic compute instead. This concept involves providing individuals with computing power to run advanced programs on their own. The discussion around UBI has expanded to include broader policy frameworks beyond just monetary support, as people face challenges beyond financial needs.
CrowdStrike Outage and Software Testing Challenges
A faulty update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, resulted in a global IT outage impacting millions of computers. The incident highlighted the importance of robust software testing procedures to prevent such widespread disruptions. The podcast delved into the necessity of enhancing testing strategies, reevaluating access levels to system kernels, and fostering a more secure and resilient online infrastructure to mitigate future cyber incidents.
This week, the memes didn’t just fall out of coconut trees — a rundown of the social media reaction to Kamala Harris’s election campaign, and an exploration of what her tech platform might look like. Then we discuss a major new study on universal basic income with Elizabeth Rhodes, research director at OpenResearch, and ask whether it could be a solution to job losses to A.I. And finally, Kate Conger, a New York Times reporter, joins us to break down how the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike crashed the global IT infrastructure.
Guests:
Elizabeth Rhodes, Research Director at OpenResearch