Here's What You Need to Remember: The president has remained conspicuously silent on the fourth stimulus check debate, focusing instead on other items on his agenda – notably the twin relief bills of the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, which contain nearly $4 trillion in combined COVID-19 relief.

In 2019, a little-known businessman and entrepreneur named Andrew Yang ran for president. Most commentators and media outlets were quick to dismiss him, noting his lack of experience in politics and the oddness of his signature economic proposal: the “Freedom Dividend,” a monthly $1000 check to all adult Americans.

The Freedom Dividend was a variation on the idea of “universal basic income,” a scheme under which all residents of a certain area – a city, a state, or a nation – receive a certain baseline amount of money. Pilot programs for cash payments have been practiced elsewhere, in cities (Stockton and Oakland in California), states (Alaska), and countries (Finland), where they have usually shown modest positive results. But the Freedom Dividend, despite its roots in earlier proposals, would have been a massive expansion of a relatively untested idea, costing the U.S. government several trillion dollars per year to administer and leading to an uncertain result. Critics, therefore, were skeptical of the idea, and declined to endorse Yang.

In spite of this, Yang persisted in the presidential race until February 2020, outlasting more prominent Democratic heavyweights like Cory Booker and current Vice President Kamala Harris. And while the Freedom Dividend has been a non-starter, his campaign – and the stimulus checks from 2020 and 2021 – have made more Americans aware of the UBI concept.

One positive indicator for a future UBI program has been the extent to which stimulus checks have been successful. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post suggested that the checks led to a 42 percent decline in food shortages, a 20 percent decline in anxiety and depression, and a 43 percent decline in overall financial instability. Rep. Ilhan Omar seconded these metrics, arguing that they justified monthly cash payments of $2000 per month until the end of the pandemic.

The $2000 idea has caught on elsewhere as well. 55 Democrats cosigned a letter to President Biden indicating their support for the payments, underlining that periodic one-time payments were “simply not enough.” Advocates of universal basic income tend to support this effort, viewing monthly stimulus checks to all Americans over a certain age and within income constraints as a form of UBI. Yang, now campaigning for Mayor of New York, has come out in favor of the $2000-per-month proposal.

Unfortunately, Biden has not. The president has remained conspicuously silent on the fourth stimulus check debate, focusing instead on other items on his agenda – notably the twin relief bills of the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, which contain nearly $4 trillion in combined COVID-19 relief.

Trevor Filseth is a news reporter and writer for the National Interest. This article first appeared earlier this year.

Image: Reuters.