Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has been stealing the hearts of Millenials with his promise of Universal Basic Income. Yang plans to give every adult in America $1000 a month. Young Americans drowning in student debt have been furiously joining the Yang gang. Free money sounds good, right?

Except that it would never work. In fact, it's essentially economic suicide.

Universal Basic Income is basically a fancy way of saying "expanding the welfare state." As in, the entire country becomes a welfare state. Instead of analyzing economic needs in order to determine who needs welfare and in what amount, UBI gives every adult citizen welfare. Regardless of their economic needs or job status. Such a welfare state would result in an increased dependency on the government.

Not to mention the lack of incentive that comes with UBI. Why work if the government hands you $1000 just for being here? Entrepreneurship and the economy would both decline. The capitalist work ethic that made our country so great would disappear. The country could begin to transition to a socialist nation, where its citizens are dependent on the government for not only their income but basic necessities and consumer goods.

The economy would take a huge hit not only from decreased incentive and the expansion of the welfare state but also by inflation. Without an increase in productivity, increasing the money supply would simply cause inflation. Giving people $1000 a month would result in an increase in the cost of living by – you guessed it – $1000 per month. Prices would increase in order to match the amount of money in circulation. All this can be learned in Eco 101, which Yang seems to have skipped. Combined with the predicted lack of incentive which would likely lead to decreased productivity, the economy isn't looking so hot under Yang's "free money" plan.

Sorry, Yang Gangers!