I have a new @TheUBICenter blog post on UBI and the black-white gaps in poverty, median wealth, and mean wealth. For example, I found that a $200/month UBI would cut the the black-white poverty gap by 21% and cut the black-white median wealth gap by 25%. https://medium.com/ubicenter/how-universal-basic-income-would-affect-the-black-white-poverty-and-wealth-gaps-452e2af1497b

Today, the SPM poverty rate is 20% among black Americans and 11% among white Americans. A $200/month UBI (which would cost $800 billion/year; I don't model any pay-fors) would cut the black poverty rate to 10%. At $1,000/month, poverty falls to about 1% across racial groups.

UBI doesn't just cut black poverty quickly on an absolute basis, it cuts black poverty faster than white poverty. As a result, the black-white poverty gap shrinks as the UBI grows.

Wealth inequality is more stubborn, especially mean wealth inequality, where white families are $660,000 ahead of black families. But UBI still helps, especially in moving median wealth inequality from its current gap of 7.7x. The gap would shrink more over time as people save.

Putting it all together and comparing to today's (pre-Covid) situation, UBIs cut the black-white mean wealth gap most slowly, then the poverty gap, and the median wealth gap most quickly. A $500/month UBI would halve the black-white median wealth gap.

UBI isn't anything near a cure-all for the complex issue of racial inequality. But by not excluding anyone or imposing conditions, it can be effective while avoiding problems of other programs.

Here's my code: https://github.com/UBICenter/black_ubi

& the article: https://medium.com/ubicenter/how-universal-basic-income-would-affect-the-black-white-poverty-and-wealth-gaps-452e2af1497b
/end