I heard a Planet Money podcast recently where they were revisiting the 1990s orgy of stock options that every company was showering on employees. One consultant who advised a few boards of directors at the time said (in all seriousness), "We thought they were free." It apparently never occurred to many business people at the time that they couldn't print money consequence free. In that case, of course, they were diluting shareholders who had bought stock. In the case of basic income, of course we'd be diluting taxpayers (the ostensible shareholders in government). This isn't an argument against basic income (though I am skeptical of it), but it is a reminder that actions have consequences....very little discussion about where the funds come from...