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Ebay Founder Giving Money Away For Free

Ebay Founder Giving Money Away For Free

Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar became an instant multi-billionaire when eBay went public in September 1998. Almost as soon as he became a billionaire, he decided to give it all away. Omidyar and his wife Pamela founded the Omidyar Network based on the belief that every person has the potential to make a difference. The Omidyars have a different philosophy when it comes to the Network’s giving. They don’t invest in short-term goals, rather they seek to rebuild the lost sense of community that is needed to fix goals like feeding the hungry, teaching the illiterate, and sheltering battered women.

The […]

What happens when robots take our jobs?

What happens when robots take our jobs?

Technologies such as big data , advanced analytics, the Internet of things , wearables, advanced robotics, learning machines and 3D printing are finding their way into factories.

Despite the sluggishness of change on today’s factory floors, this digital wave is slowly but surely revolutionizing manufacturing , contributing to major productivity enhancements and the emergence of innovative production paradigms that deliver more tailored and efficient solutions.

Needless to say, this transformation has profound implications for manufacturing employment, affecting everything from the size of the workforce, to the skillsets required and the locations of factories. Will this fourth Industrial Revolution lead to a […]

World’s Largest Democratic Country to Endorse Universal Basic Income

An Official Endorsement

With Finland implementing a universal basic income (UBI) experiment that will run for the next two years, it seems that UBI is getting more attention as a viable system. Now, a leading advocate of UBI has said that the government of the world’s largest democratic country, India, is going to release a report endorsing UBI as “basically the way forward.”

The report, which will be part of the Ministry of Finance’s annual Economic Survey, is expected to be released this month. India has had considerable experience with UBI pilot programs in the country. Behind these programs is […]

The Growing Need for a Universal Basic Income

The Growing Need for a Universal Basic Income

Labor force participation rates, which are the percentage of people in a given country who have any job at all, have been declining since around 2001. So have median incomes. Mean incomes, on the other hand, have increased. This means that while the average person is less likely to work, and likely to earn less money if they do, the total amount of money being earned per person has increased because of gains in income at the top.

This is no conspiracy of the powerful and wealthy keeping the little man down. This is the obvious result of our post […]

basic income

basic income

The basic income guarantee (BIG) is a government insured guarantee that no citizen’s income will fall below some minimal level for any reason. All citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement. BIG is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government social policy. Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and tax deductions aimed at maintaining incomes. In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, […]

Elon Musk: Basic income will be necessary

Elon Musk: Basic income will be necessary

There are some datapoints that I’ve been picking up on recently that undermine this.

Artificial Intelligence based programs are replacing human traders at hedge funds. Where they’ve been implemented, they’ve been more successful than the human traders. Now this doesn’t affect a lot of people. However these are some of most highly paid individuals on the planet, with very specialized, highly intellectual skills. If computers can replace them, not job is safe.

I also heard something about AI programs now being able to write other AI programs. Think about the effect of that. Waaaaayyyyyyyy on the […]

The Universal Basic Income’s Past and Future in Brief

The Universal Basic Income's Past and Future in Brief

In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective – the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income." He was right. It is obvious that the simplest solution to poverty is a direct, unconditional, universal basic income paid out equally to all citizens. Such a payment prevents any given citizen’s income from falling below that point. And it was widely discussed at the time. But this was not the first time that it had been so […]

Basic poverty trap

As the income gap continues to widen and poverty is on the rise in Australia and other industrialised nations as result of decades of neo-liberal economic policies, the concept of a universal basic income is being touted in conservative quarters and amongst some left economists. Trials are underway for some form of basic income for unemployed in Canada, Finland, the US and several other European countries. The concept dates back to the Renaissance of the 16th century where with the new mercantilism it was no longer seen as the preserve of the church and charitable individuals to cater for […]

The Trade Red Herring

Trade policy is a hot button political issue, and it’s also one of the biggest distractions. It’s often said that politics makes strange bedfellows. Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump believe that U.S. trade policy is largely to blame for the hollowing out of high paying, working class jobs. However, the data suggests otherwise.

Let me acknowledge at the outset that I have a vested economic interest in supporting free trade (I am, however, genuinely supportive of it but do recognize that there are also costs to free trade which trade policy should address). My skateboard and skate apparel business, […]

Elon Musk: Basic income will be necessary

Elon Musk: Basic income will be necessary

Click this image to show the full-size version. It’s not just manufacturing, though. On the horizon in construction you can see them working on 3D printing homes. It isn’t here yet, but this is trending that direction.

Think of what automation will do to those who drive for a living: semi drivers, cabbies, Uber drivers, UPS drivers etc.

The medical field think of much fewer pharmacists due to medicine being delivered to your door. Robotic surgery etc Not saying this is tomorrow it is just headed this way. Go read how fast Uber is planning to […]