Joe Rogan Says Government Giving Every Adult $200K UBI Would Let You Live in a Nice House And Eat Well — '$40 Billion? That's So Reasonable'
Universal basic income has been floating around for years. Tech leaders warn that automation could wipe out entire industries. Others argue a guaranteed check is the simplest fix. If robots end up doing the work, humans still need a way to pay the mortgage. But how big would that check have to be? On an 2024 episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," host Joe Rogan threw out a number that wasn't small. Not $1,000 a month. Not a modest safety net. He wondered what it would look like if every adult in the U.S. received $200,000 a year as a base paycheck. Don't Miss: The conversation with 4BiddenKnowledge Inc. founder Billy Carson started as a philosophical one. If machines take over most jobs, would people even need to work for survival? Rogan said he would still do what he does. Carson pointed to passion-driven work. Then Rogan shifted gears. "If there was a base paycheck for the whole country," he said, before asking the obvious question: what would it actually cost? He told longtime producer Jamie Vernon to check the math. They talked through the adult population, rounding to 200 million to keep it simple. Then came the on-air multiplication: $200,000 times 200 million. Anyone who has tried to calculate massive figures out loud knows what happened next. Zeros started stacking up. Rogan asked what the number was called. Million? Billion? Trillion? They bounced between possibilities before landing on $40 billion. Trending: Own the Characters, Not Just the Content: Inside a Fast-Growing Pre-IPO IP Company Rogan's reaction was instant: "$40 billion? That's it? That's so reasonable." From there, he painted the lifestyle that number could support. With an income of $200,000 a year, he said, "You can live in a nice house, go on a vacation, you can eat well. $200,000. Not bad at all." And people could still work if they wanted to. The check would simply lift everyone to a baseline. There was just one issue. The math was off. When $200,000 is multiplied by 200 million adults, it equals $40 trillion, not $40 billion. Three missing zeros turned a thought experiment into something several times larger than the entire federal budget. For comparison, the Congressional Budget Office projects federal outlays for fiscal 2026 will reach about $7.4 trillion. A $40 trillion annual program wouldn't just stretch the budget. It would tower over it several times over. Rogan wasn't quietly drafting legislation. He was riffing in real time, asking Jamie to verify numbers while juggling a fast-moving conversation about automation, power and who benefits when technology concentrates wealth at the top. Big numbers get slippery when you're talking through them live. See Also: Own a Stake in California's New Standard for Luxury Behavioral Health So no, $200,000 a year for every adult may not be quite as "reasonable" as Rogan put it. But the bigger question he was circling still hangs in the air. If automation really does swallow up massive chunks of the workforce, what is a reasonable number? What keeps people stable without blowing up the math? That debate is far from settled, and it's only getting louder as AI tools grow more capable by the month. Of course, some aren't waiting around to see whether a universal check ever materializes. If the machines are coming, plenty of investors would rather own a piece of them. Instead of banking on a government baseline, they're looking at early-stage AI startups, betting that the real windfall won't be a guaranteed paycheck but equity in the companies building the future. Read Next: This Under-$1 Pre-IPO AI Company Is Still Open to Retail Investors — Learn More Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga: This article Joe Rogan Says Government Giving Every Adult $200K UBI Would Let You Live in a Nice House And Eat Well — '$40 Billion? That's So Reasonable' originally appeared on Benzinga.com © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
