Universal basic income in India: An idea whose time has not come

Cash transfers to poor people

For many years, economists have advocated cash transfers to poor people as the best tool for poverty elimination. This avoids the inefficiency of in-kind transfers such as those undertaken by the Indian `Public Distribution System’ which is beset by operational difficulties, and transfers to the non-poor.

The basic arithmetic works out as follows: If we deliver $0.5/day to the bottom 20% of society, this is an expenditure of $95 billion at the current Indian population of 1.3 billion. This is 2.4% of GDP. This calculation is all nominal. When we say $0.5/day this is […]

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