His 2020 Campaign Message: The Robots Are Coming<br />“Universal basic income is an old idea,” Mr. Yang said, “but it’s an old idea<br />that right now is uniquely relevant because of what we’re experiencing in society.”<br />Mr. Yang’s prominent supporters include Andy Stern, a former leader of Service Employees International Union, who credited him with “opening up a discussion<br />that the country’s afraid to have.” His campaign has also attracted some of Silicon Valley’s elites.<br />Opponents of universal basic income have also pointed to its steep price tag — an annual outlay of $12,000 per American adult would cost approximately $2 trillion, equivalent to roughly half of the current federal budget — and the possibility<br />that giving out free money could encourage people not to work.<br />The Democratic pipeline is already stuffed with would-be 2020 contenders, most of whom already have the public profile and political experience<br />that Mr. Yang lacks — and at least one of whom, Senator Bernie Sanders, has already hinted at support for a universal basic income.<br />“I’m a capitalist,” he said, “and I believe that universal basic income is necessary for capitalism to continue.”<br />Mr. Yang, a married father of two boys, is a fast-talking extrovert who wears the nu-executive uniform of a blazer and jeans without a tie.
