Business Insider: Facebook Co-Founder Wants the Richest Americans to Fund a Basic Income for 90 Million People

“We know that when people get modest amounts of cash, they use it smartly, their kids stay in school longer, health outcomes improve, and they’re happier,” Hughes said on Reddit. “We have the power to rebalance our economic system and provide more opportunity to all — we just have to develop the political will to do it.”

To pay for this, Hughes proposes bringing tax rates on the top 1% of earners in the country to 50% — which is in line with the historical average, he said. The idea is to provide people with a reliable income stream that can help provide financial stability. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the top 1% of earners paid a tax rate equivalent to around 34% of their income in 2017. Read more