Category: Basic Income

Shift from annuities to drawdown continues

Shift from annuities to drawdown continues

Annuities used to be the go-to way to secure an income in retirement, but thanks to the pension freedoms, that’s no longer the case. Indeed, demand for annuities has plummeted in recent years, to be replaced by income drawdown. Annuity apathy

Figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) show that income drawdown accounted for 76% of retirement income sales between April and June this year, with a total of 42,776 products sold during the three-month period. This compares with just 13,875 annuity sales, which represented 24% of the market.

A year previously the division was less marked, but even […]

Does DBV Technologies S.A. (DBVT) Present Much Upside ?

Does DBV Technologies S.A. (DBVT) Present Much Upside ?

DBV Technologies S.A. (NASDAQ:DBVT) is one of the active stocks and its unusual movement is raising eyebrows among traders. In light of the many issues surrounding this company, we thought it was a good time to take a close look at the numbers in order to form a realistic perspective on the fundamental picture for this stock.

DBV Technologies S.A. (NASDAQ:DBVT) Fundamentals That Matter

It’s generally a good idea to start with the most fundamental piece of the picture: the balance sheet. The balance sheet health of any company plays a key role in its ability to meet its […]

Made in America: The 33 Cent Chinese Arkansas T-Shirt

Made in America: The 33 Cent Chinese Arkansas T-Shirt

Recently my colleague Marco Chan shared an extraordinary story that puts a new slant on the public discussion about robotics, China, outsourcing and the future of jobs. According to this Bloomberg Business Week story , a Chinese manufacturer, Tianyuan Garments Co., is investing $20 million to open a plant in Little Rock that will utilize robots developed by a Georgia company, Software Automation, to manufacture T-Shirts at a cost of 33 cents per shirt. Each SEWBOT™ workline is capable of spitting out a T-Shirt every 26 seconds. Human workers don’t stand a chance against such competition, no matter how […]

Digital transformation will be dramatic and painful

Digital transformation will be dramatic and painful

Artificial intelligence has the potential for dramatic disruption of everything from manufacturing to education and mental health. Its future applications are limitless and unknowable — we are too early in its evolution to know how far it could replicate and exceed the human brain’s capabilities. Forecasts vary of how many jobs could be replaced or created by AI and sister technologies such as blockchain, big data, hyperconnectivity and the internet of things.

The new jobs will require advanced skills and “digital mindsets”, and the transition will be dramatic and painful. Governments, businesses and civil society will need to rethink the […]

MDU customers cite fixed incomes, argue against proposed rate increase

MDU customers cite fixed incomes, argue against proposed rate increase

Fixed incomes dominated discussion during an informal hearing to collect public input on a rate hike requested by Montana Dakota Utilities for natural gas service. The hearings were held across the state via interactive television. Williston’s hearings were at Williston State College Tuesday and Wednesday.

The company has asked for $5.9 million increase annually over current rates to replace pipelines and improve safety. That is a 5.4 percent overall increase.

The money will be used to replace $275 million of pipeline infrastructure dating back to the 1970s and 80s. The company has 2,575 miles of main pipeline in the state and […]

The Dangerous Idea of Universal Basic Income

The Dangerous Idea of Universal Basic Income

Can unconditional welfare payments finally provide the solution to working poverty in Australia?

Universal basic income (UBI) has been heralded as the future of welfare and a way to finally bring equality to societies with more than enough money to go around. Anyone who has shared the pleasure of dealing with the monster that is Centrelink will agree that the social welfare structure in Australia is overly bureaucratic and convoluted, imposing significant psychological costs on those who have to engage with the system.

Recent rhetoric dividing “lifters and leaners” in Australia has incorrectly defined the issue of working poverty. Many […]

Why did Friedrich Hayek support Universal Basic Income

Why did Friedrich Hayek support Universal Basic Income

Hayek never explained his support for UBS outright . However, it’s unquestionable that he firmly supported UBS.

The closest we come to an explanation is a quote from "The Public Sector and the Private Sector" in "Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 3: The Political Order of a Free People": The assurance of a certain minimum income for everyone, or a sort of floor below which nobody need fall even when he is unable to provide for himself, appears not only to be a wholly legitimate protection against a risk common to all, but a necessary part of the Great Society […]

Have your say: Is universal basic income a good way to offset impact of automation?

Have your say: Is universal basic income a good way to offset impact of automation?

As the working world shifts toward automation, some have posited the idea of a universal basic income to solve the problems presented by this trend.

A report released this month by Deloitte Canada and the Human Resources Professionals Association noted employment laws and public policy are struggling to catch up with the changing Canadian workforce. It recommended that the government consider a universal basic income, saying it was time to rethink the idea and open up a discussion.

Read: Employers, policy-makers urged to rethink future of work “Given the prospect of job losses due to automation, many policy thinkers have […]

AI: Pew Report Shows Concerns From Blade Runner Are a Reality

AI: Pew Report Shows Concerns From Blade Runner Are a Reality

In the world of fiction, some of the best stories from the past are the most well received because they dance the fine line of imagination and reality. Take for example something as simple as the Jetson movie, a cartoon that predicted video chatting, roombas, and tablets. In Back to the Future they had wearables (virtual reality), Total Recall had self-driving cars, Short Circuit was literally about AI powered military robots, and even the original Blade Runner was digital billboards.

Flash forward to this year, and Blade Runner is once again depicting a Sci-Fi driven future where robots are doing […]

Colombian Government Has Handed Out USD $13.5 Million to FARC Members Despite Continued Violence

Colombian Government Has Handed Out USD $13.5 Million to FARC Members Despite Continued Violence

The agency’s Director General Joshua Mitrotti said this week that more than 10,000 members of the FARC received the money since August, while 4,888 former guerrillas have begun using the state pension insurer Colpensiones. ( Español More than US $13.5 million has been given to former members of Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces guerrilla group, or FARC, according to the country’s Agency for Reincorporation and Standardization.

The agency’s Director General Joshua Mitrotti said this week that more than 10,000 members of the FARC received the money since August, while 4,888 former guerrillas have begun using the state pension insurer Colpensiones.

After the […]