Keeping up with the log for the radio show on January 16, 2020. Like I said before, just a record of what was going on.
Phase 1 Trade Deal
Is the Phase 1 trade deal a guarantee for North Dakota farmers and ranchers. Not from what I read. The agreements allow for more ag product purchases from the US, but that does not guarantee that it will be products produced by ND farmers and ranchers. It is better to have the cooling-off for certain and it gives an opportunity to make gains, but that is not a guarantee. It also seems this deal was available months ago which means the producers experienced losses for little to no further guarantees of improvements.
Doom and Gloom
A caller just said that I am a doom and gloom guy. So apparently somebody has not heard that economics is the dismal science. Also said I get my talking points from the web. Sure. Since I downloaded the trade agreement from the Web I guess that is right.
Universal Basic Income
Is UBI a good policy. This is a tricky one. There are plusses and minuses and it will depend on individual specific characteristics whether you believe it to be the case. Realistically it is intriguing most in terms of changes in incentives for work and other aspects. That is likely a big behavioral change we would need to look at further to determine the net gain/loss from a plan like that. Will have to post more about that.
