A basic income ( Beveridge was cradle-to-grave: who could sell that these days? , Polly Toynbee, 26 February) came close to fruition in the US in 1969 through the unlikely offices of President Nixon, who wanted every American family of four to have, from the state, at least $1,600 dollars a year – that’s $10,000 today. Until, that is, Nixon was reminded of events in Speenhamland, Berkshire, in 1795; there every citizen had a basic income against rising food prices and, by most accounts, it all worked well but a royal commission falsely claimed that all manner of social […]
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