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Comment by kire2345 | Hacker News Reader

I am wondering often with UBI: if everybody gets a certain amount of money. Wouldn't prices just adapt and everything gets more expensive, and there would be the same divide as before? Similar to Scandinavia where prices are very high. What mechanism could prevent this from happening?

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Why exactly do you think this would happen? It doesn't actually make sense. Let's say Company A charges 2$ for an apple and each apple costs 1$ to procure, and then at some point a UBI is implemented. What changed that suddenly allows company A to raise the price of an apple without being undercut by Company B? The cost to procure an apple might increase somewhat because laborers have more leverage under a UBI, but there's an upper limit to this with automation anyway. A more equal distribution of wealth in itself will not cause any increase in the cost of goods.

Yeah, i guess you are right in a perfect market. My hypothesis was that increased buying power leads to more demand. In your case for apples it would allow apple producers to increase prices and raise margins, as long as competitors don't undercut them.

What is the original cause that drives prices in countries like Switzerland or Norway higher? Is this only due to currency trading and a country's credit rating?

Prices are stable and not really rising in Switzerland, same for salaries.

Prices in Germany are rising but salaries are stagnant.

Just my observation.

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