Author: automata

Fort Worth approves $68.9M incentive package for Linear Labs for electric motor manufacturing

The City of Fort Worth, Texas has approved a $68.9-million economic incentive package for electric-motor-manufacturer Linear Labs ( earlier post ) to further solidify the city as the next tech innovation hub. Linear Labs plans to secure a 500,000-square-foot facility for advanced, smart manufacturing to support thousands of new, skilled jobs over the next 10 years.

The research and production center will create electric motors for industries as diverse as electric vehicles (EVs), robotics, HVAC, and last-mile micromobility, in addition to various industrial applications. Fort Worth is our home and we can see the strategic moves the city is making […]

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

What is a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

While it does not yet exist as a practical reality in the United States, the concept of a universal basic income – or UBI – is similar to the concept of minimum wage . Each individual receives an agreed-upon minimum income (basic income) with the intent that the income allows a person to afford the basic cost of living while maintaining some semblance of financial security or independence. The key difference (besides the fact that UBI is theoretical) is the fact that the government would pay each individual a universal basic income […]

Opinion: Many Canadians with disabilities shut out of pandemic funding

Opinion: Many Canadians with disabilities shut out of pandemic funding

National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier was provided with recommendations for improving the funding process for people with disabilities. The federal government recently announced a one-time, federal tax-free payment for Disability Tax Credit recipients intended to reduce financial barriers for persons with disabilities during the pandemic. This proposed bill failed to secure unanimous consent in the House of Commons for debate. In part, persons with disabilities are getting caught in the political crossfire. However, known issues with eligibility for the DTC warrant the equity concerns raised by opposition parties.

In some provinces, less than 40 per cent of individuals with qualifying […]

The Hour of the Basic Income

The Hour of the Basic Income

The spread of COVID-19 has exposed the inadequacy of measures nations claimed they had, to deal with a crisis. A microorganism succeeded in locking down nations, disrupting markets, and exposing loopholes in the existing policies and welfare systems. As India wades through the stormy seas of averting a health crisis, millions are left bereft of livelihoods and safety nets. The plight of migrant workers has brought to light the true state of our social infrastructure as they were denied basic services to even get back home.

Thomas More in his 16th century book titled Utopia wrote ‘ …provide everyone with […]

Over 55 million domestic workers around the world are at risk of losing jobs due to lockdown

Over 55 million domestic workers around the world are at risk of losing jobs due to lockdown

In some regions domestic workers are predominantly migrants who rely on their pay to support their families in their countries of origin. Over 55 million domestic workers around the world are at significant risk of losing their jobs and income due to lockdown and lack of effective social security coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Labour Organization ( ILO ) said. The vast majority, 37 million, of these domestic workers are women.

An ILO assessment at the beginning of June shows that the worst affected region are Southeast Asia and the Pacific where 76% of domestic workers are at […]

Four-Day Work Week

Four-Day Work Week

Four Day Work Week_1 By GWYNNE DYER :

Less than a century ago the whole industrialised world transitioned from the traditional six-day working week (Saturdays included) to a five-day work-week, for the same pay, with no political upheaval and no significant loss of production. So why don’t we do that again, spread the work around, and save lots of jobs?

AS COUNTRIES in Europe and North America emerge from lock-down and start trying to rebuild their devastated economies, the great concern is jobs. Unemployment in the US and Canada is over 13%, a post-Second World War high. If […]

Conflict-Affected Countries Need Cash Boost of $1.7 Billion in 2020 to Limit the Threat of Hunger from COVID-19

Conflict-Affected Countries Need Cash Boost of $1.7 Billion in 2020 to Limit the Threat of Hunger from COVID-19

New analysis from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimates the “cost of living” for refugees and vulnerable populations in COVID-hit countries like Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

In conflict-affected countries, a cash boost of $1.7 billion is needed to limit the threat of hunger brought on by COVID-19, with $760 million specific to vulnerable people in high refugee-hosting developing countries.

IRC is calling for donors, the private sector, international financial institutions and G20 countries to mobilize to provide humanitarian cash payments to individuals in need. As richer countries experiment with cash payments and Universal Basic Income amidst economic crises, […]

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance launches Child’s Future Assured Plan

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), has launched a one-of-its-kind insurance plan called ABSLI Child’s Future Assured Plan. It aims at assured returns combined with protection, to financially secure a child’s future milestones.

This child plan offers guaranteed returnsand is a non-linked non-participating life insurance plan. ABSLI Child’s Future Assured Plan enables you to plan for child’s two significant milestones – education & marriage by providing the required cash flow to help you meet your goals for your child’s future.It has an in-built Waiver of Premium element that ensures that […]

A basic-income floor should be part of a recovery programme

A basic-income floor should be part of a recovery programme

With the UK’s social safety net full of holes, support has grown for a basic income to underpin a mean and means-tested benefits system. Stewart Lansley With livelihoods shattered, surging unemployment and falls in household incomes, attention across Europe is turning towards the vital question of post-crisis reconstruction. Covid-19 has already breathed new life into a centuries-old idea, that of providing all with a guaranteed, no-questions-asked, basic income (BI) as of right.

Following a campaign by a European network of activists— Unconditional Basic Income Europe —the European Commission agreed in May to register a citizens’ initiative for an EU-wide BI. […]

Donald Kirk: Economic inequity raises issue of universal basic income

The global outbreak of COVID-19 raises a question that’s been discussed, off and on, for more than a century: What about guaranteeing everyone a certain amount of money by which to cover necessities such as food and lodging? Since all citizens would be entitled to a fixed amount, the term for this dispensation of funds is “universal basic income” or UBI.

I got to thinking about it after President Trump sent me a check in accordance with his promise to hand out $1,200 for every God-fearing U.S. taxpayer whose income fell below a certain rather high level. I had no […]