# From Third World to Utopia: Singapore could end poverty for our children forever, today

Mon Jan 18 2021

## Introduction

If the Singapore government earmarked $200,000 for each child at birth and let it grow until the child turned 18 before dispensing it, we could guarantee a basic income of ~$800 (inflation-adjusted!) every month in perpetuity without ever depleting the capital.

## What would it take to give every citizen a UBI?

35 billion annual payment forever, or 1.2 trillion set aside as a one-time payment. Our annual government revenue is 50b (with 18b NIRC), and we have maybe ~1 trillion as reserves, so we'd either need to double our reserves or devote all our reserves to UBI, which would not be financially or politically feasible.

The nice thing about this plan is that it's a "ramp up plan": it basically gives a small percentage of the population (those born in or after year X) a UBI every year. Eventually all people will be born in or after year X, and everyone will have a UBI.