Is Universal Basic Income a Viable Solution? Another Country is Giving it a Shot

Is Universal Basic Income a Viable Solution? Another Country is Giving it a Shot

The case for universal basic income (UBI) has been made by financial experts, economists, government officials, and tech moguls, alike. So far, except in the case of Finland, all the talk about UBI has mostly been talk. That’s all about to change now, with Ontario, Canada preparing for its own pilot basic income program in 2017.

During the three-year test program experts would, “gather quantitative and qualitative data through access to administrative records, questionnaires and interviews, making aggregate data/preliminary results available broadly and transparently,” says Segal. He believes that supplemental income should be set at $1,320 a month ($1,820 for people with disabilities) for it to be effective. “The objective behind this endeavor should be to generate an evidence-base for policy development, without bias or pre-determined conclusion,” he adds.

SPAIN (BASQUE COUNTRY): New Survey Confirms Public Support of Basic Income

SPAIN (BASQUE COUNTRY): New Survey Confirms Public Support of Basic Income

In the two previous biggest European surveys — one conducted in Catalonia by GESOP and the other in the European Union by DALIA Research — around 70% of respondents said they would support an unconditional basic income. The new survey from Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea finds that more than half of the respondents (54.4%) are in favor of an unconditional basic income. Although the percentage in favor is smaller, these data confirm that a majority of people throughout different European territories would support an unconditional basic income.

The three surveys mentioned above show that under 4% of respondents believe that they would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income. In the first survey (the one carried out by GESOP in Catalonia), it was seen that only 2.9% of the respondents who are currently employed say that they would stop working. Meanwhile, in the second (carried out by Dalia Research), 4% of the 10,000 Europeans surveyed said that they would leave their job for an unconditional basic income. Both results are very similar to the one obtained recently by Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, where the percentage of currently employed respondents who report that they would stop working if they received an unconditional basic income stands at 3.5%.

Elon Musk: Robots Will Take Your Jobs & Governments Will Have To Pay Your Wages

Elon Musk: Robots Will Take Your Jobs & Governments Will Have To Pay Your Wages

Once many jobs become automated, it’s inevitable that unemployment rates will rise. As mentioned above, much like assembly line workers being put out of jobs during the Industrial Revolution, the same will occur during the Automation Age. For example, cars that drive themselves have already been developed and are a safer, more economical alternative to taxi drivers, so these automated cars will eventually replace taxi services.

We need to develop a way to smoothly transition into this new era of technology, and the best tactic, according to Musk, is to implement a universal basic income (UBI). In other words, the government would pay all citizens the same amount of money so they have adequate financial means to live.

Trump’s populism is only the beginning. Here come the robots.

Trump's populism is only the beginning. Here come the robots.

See how Amazon packages ship with less than :60 in human hands Populism is sweeping the nation, but it’s likely just getting started.

Donald Trump’s win is a wake-up call that voters are angry with a system that’s made middle-class jobs tougher to come by, and increased inequality.

As pronounced as the trend already is, it’s only just the beginning, experts say. Looming technological advances will wipe out more jobs, broadening the base of disenfranchised, unemployable and frustrated citizens. Meanwhile, elites with the skills to flourish in the digital economy will get richer. And governments will have to figure out […]

Money for Nothing – it Sounds Like a Utopia

Money for Nothing – it Sounds Like a Utopia

The London-based Apolitical website’s article on basic income (BI) opens with “Money for nothing – it sounds like a utopia” and then looks at some examples of BI concepts that have already been applied around the world.

This phrase, “money for nothing” represents a commonly held bias that, when there is no commodity returned for the money, whether that commodity is a thing or someone’s labour, then there is no tangible value returned for the monies. This bias is widely held and promoted by many adherents of modern-day economic theories – a bias which too often dismisses, or simply ignores, […]

The Future Of Employment: The Automator And Automated

The Future Of Employment: The Automator And Automated

It’s 2030; Internet technology has become ubiquitous in its place in our society reaching a point where human and machine intelligence is indistinguishable. All but the most important jobs are taken over by artificial intelligence. The world is dominated by two categories of worker, those who automate and those who are automated.

Although this may sound a like a story line from a futuristic drama, the reality is this future may be closer than you think. Call any support line or customer service centre today, and you hear a very simple phone bot. It’s an awful experience burned by repetitive […]

Trump’s jobs plan faces a bigger challenge than China

Trump's jobs plan faces a bigger challenge than China

Robots may prevent Trump from bringing back the manufacturing jobs he promised. Source: Reuters President-elect Donald Trump has promised to wage a war against globalization, to bring back jobs that corporations have sent abroad. But what about all the jobs that simply don’t exist anymore, left behind by advances in technology?

For anyone in the US manufacturing economy Trump has been describing, a job lost to China looks and feels identical to a job lost to technology, making it hard to effectively get to the bottom of what’s happening—and how to fix it for the American workforce.

From Federal Reserve data, […]

Should Manufacturing Come Back to America?

Should Manufacturing Come Back to America?

In recent years and especially during the latest presidential election cycle, the issue of manufacturing in America has been raised repeatedly. Many, particularly those who have lost jobs in the manufacturing sector as a result of increasing globalization, believe that a strong industrial base is required for America’s economic growth and stability. Opponents of measures to bring manufacturing jobs back point to increased prices and pressure to automate as reasons that the American economy should move past its manufacturing-based phase.

Pros of Bringing Manufacturing Back

Proponents of policies that would force or heavily incentivize businesses to bring manufacturing jobs […]

Dancing With The Robots

The increased use of robotics and automation in the manufacturing and logistics sectors will, over the next decade, limit East-West trade growth and lead to a reduction of supply chain and air freight personnel involved in handling and distribution, according to Wolfgang Lehmacher, Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum.
Lehmacher told FlyingTypers that the technological means and maturity to create autonomous supply and value chains was now almost here, and the adoption of new technologies could be seen in everything from flying shuttles to driverless cars and rolling robots. Citing Foxconn’s efforts to […]

Reversing Automation

Reversing Automation

Yesterday I asked what parts of NAFTA people on Ricochet would want to see renegotiated or abrogated. After reading the responses, I’m still not sure whether people here think that free trade is good, but NAFTA disadvantages the United States — that it’s not a level playing field, in other words — or whether we’ve got real support here for mercantilism.

I’m open to the idea that Adam Smith was wrong and free trade doesn’t, in fact, benefit everyone. I’ve been arguing, though, that it’s not trade that’s killed manufacturing jobs. It’s automation.

What if both are true? Here’s an interesting […]