Category: Basic Income

Universal Basic Income better option than government welfare schemes: Arvind Subramanian

Universal Basic Income better option than government welfare schemes: Arvind Subramanian

Chief economic adviser to the Government of India Aravind Subramanian delivering the K P Hormis commemorative lecture in Kochi on Monday | melton antony KOCHI: Universal Basic Income (UBI) will be a better option than welfare schemes rolled out by Union and state governments, said Arvind Subramanian, chief economic adviser to the Government of India. He was delivering the 15th Federal Bank KP Hormis Commemorative Lecture on the topic Surprises of the Indian Economy here on Monday.

UBI is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional allowance from the […]

View Poll Results: Will Universal Basic Income work or become necessary?

View Poll Results: Will Universal Basic Income work or become necessary?

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The premise that "no one will have jobs because of machines" is ridiculous. More automation makes projects possible that could not have been done before.

It’s a ridiculous idea.
Forgetting the ludicrously high costs…the notion of people who do not need money, giving the government money, just so they can get that money back is beyond silly. And since all bureaucracies are staggeringly wasteful…they would have to pay the government about $13,000 per year – just to be given $12,000 back. It’s insane.And as cpwill stated, […]

Report details policy costs of implementing universal basic income

Report details policy costs of implementing universal basic income

There are compelling arguments that replacing a country’s benefit system with a universal basic income (UBI) could reduce poverty and bureaucracy, but there are significant trade-offs to be weighed up in view of the goals policy-makers pursue, according to a new working paper from the Institute for Policy Research (IPR).

Over 68 pages, the IPR working paper, released today Monday 13 March, provides some of the most detailed analysis yet of trade-offs that need be acknowledged in designing any such scheme, providing policy-makers new evidence of the diverse effects and alternative ways in which UBI might be realised.

Modelling different […]

NDP leadership hopeful Caron fleshes out basic income plan

NDP leadership hopeful Caron fleshes out basic income plan

Quebec MP Guy Caron has fleshed out his pitch for a basic income to reduce income inequality in Canada. REUTERS/Mark Blinch OTTAWA (CP) — As NDP leadership hopefuls prepared for their first debate on Sunday, Quebec MP Guy Caron was fleshing out his pitch for a basic income to reduce income inequality in Canada.

Caron, an economist, is proposing a taxable supplement that would help those Canadians whose income levels fall below a standard minimum threshold, determined in part by the size of their family and the city they live in.

He says the proposal would be designed to complement existing […]

Cash dependency needs to come down further for demonetization to succeed: CEA Arvind Subramanian

Cash dependency needs to come down further for demonetization to succeed: CEA Arvind Subramanian

There is a need for the cash-to-GDP ratio of 12% to come down for demonetization to be successful, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said on Monday.

India, which has been a largely cash-driven economy thanks to the reluctance of the majority to make a shift to digital mode of payments and a large rural population which is still devoid of basic internet, mobile, and banking facilities, saw 86% of its currency (in value) removed from its system on November 8 when the government delegalised the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

In the aftermath, tight cash withdrawal limits were […]

Center for Global Policy Solutions report: Over 4 Million Jobs Could Be Lost in Rapid Transition to Autonomous Vehicles

Center for Global Policy Solutions report: Over 4 Million Jobs Could Be Lost in Rapid Transition to Autonomous Vehicles

Stick Shift: Autonomous Vehicles, Driving Jobs, and the Future of Work Over 4 million driving jobs could be lost to fully autonomous vehicles if this technology is adopted in a short period of time, a new paper from the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS) finds.

“ Stick Shift: Autonomous Vehicles, Driving Jobs, and the Future of Work ” shows that men and people of color nationally and workers in states such as North Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Iowa, and Indiana would suffer disproportionate pain and economic disruption from such a transition. In these states, a higher […]

That time when Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ran a universal basic income experiment for Nixon

That time when Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ran a universal basic income experiment for Nixon

In recent years, as the possibility that intelligent machines might one day replace virtually all of our jobs has sunk in, the promise of universal basic income (UBI) has gained more mainstream attention, especially in progressive circles. Advocates say that governments should offer universal minimum payments, to protect displaced workers from destabilization, poverty and poor health.

The idea has its detractors, however. Some believe UBI would make otherwise employable people lazy. The concept raises debates about whether handing out cash reduces inequality or encourages dependence—the same debates that have surrounded programs that provide assistance for the poor that former US […]

No immediate plans for universal basic income: Indian Government

No immediate plans for universal basic income: Indian Government

India’s welfare budget, 2016-17 The Indian government has no immediate plans or proposals to institute a scheme of ‘unversal basic income’ in place of the myriad social welfare scheme run by the country at present, the finance ministry said in response to a query.

The clarification that there is ‘no proposal for a universal basic income scheme’ comes in the wake of a similar idea floated by this year’s Economic Survey of India, the annual pre-budget document released by the same ministry documenting the condition of the economy.

“The universal basic income (scheme) must be embraced in a deliberate, phased manner […]

Setting a basic income is not a cure-all

What’s the big deal about basic income? The idea is not new. It has, I believe, evolved from the handing of/transferring of cash stipends to poor families.

This was preferred to the conventional approach of subsidising food staples such as sugar or by subsidising gasoline prices as part of the government’s indirect support to who cannot afford market prices. Then came the argument of whether monthly cash stipends would do, or if a certain family should receive a one-time big cash payment, which the family can use to, for instance, pay off debt and start a small business.

The monthly payment […]

View Poll Results: Will Universal Basic Income work or become necessary?

Depends on what you mean by that.

Employment is incredibly low (about 19%) and the government disability programs create problems for people with disabilities wanting to work, because they are caught between choosing services, employment, or wages. A lot of folks can’t have all three. They have to choose one, maybe two if they’re lucky. Perhaps it’s too cost prohibitive to work at all, perhaps you can work, but you can’t work too much, or make too much or else the rug is pulled out from underneath you. People with disabilities, who are most often on government […]