Is now the time for the UK to trial a temporary Universal Basic Income? YES, says Julian Jessop, an economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs.
In normal times, cash payments regardless of individual need would be too expensive, poorly targeted, and distortionary. It is therefore right to use existing means-tested benefits (notably universal credit) as the first line of defence to protect people’s incomes from coronavirus.
But these are not, of course, normal times.Economic activity is collapsing, mainly because we actually want some people to stop doing what they would normally do. Self-isolation is not a credible strategy […]
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