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Province Holds Basic Income Consultation In London

Province Holds Basic Income Consultation In London

(Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Londoners have had their say on a basic income pilot project for Ontario.

The Wynne Liberals 14-city tour wrapped in London Tuesday night. Minister of Community and Social Services Helena Jaczek has been touring the province, holding public consultations talking about how the proposed pilot project should run, who should participate and how it will be monitored.One of the priorities on Mayor Matt Brown’s poverty panel was to have London serve as a test market for the pilot project.However, Jaczek told AM980 London may be too big for the pilot project.“Certainly location is something that we’ll […]

Union Budget 2017: ‘Universal basic income’ is an idea whose time has come

Union Budget 2017: ‘Universal basic income’ is an idea whose time has come

Indian Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley speaks during the annual Hindustan Times "Leadership Summit" conference in New Delhi on December 2, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / CHANDAN KHANNA New Delhi : The most important idea thrown up in the Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha on the opening day of Parliament’s budget session on Tuesday is the revolutionary concept of the Universal Basic Income (UBI) to put a fixed amount of money in the hands of every poor, withdrawing all 950 and odd social welfare schemes.

The idea never tried ever anywhere in the world […]

Universal Basic Income: The big idea takes tiny steps

Universal Basic Income: The big idea takes tiny steps

(Photos: Sneh Singh) Sarath Davala has a strong opinion about public welfare. “The public welfare regime in India,” he says, “is an exercise in futility.” Some $20 billion (or about Rs 1.3 trillion) goes into the PDS for providing grain to the needy, and some Rs 50,000 crore into NREGA, a scheme that guarantees 100 days of work in rural areas. That’s Rs 1.35 trillion in all, of which he estimates that at least 40 percent is “lost in transmission”. That’s more than half a trillion rupees defalcated by the ‘system’. It’s far better, Davala thinks, if the government […]

A universal basic income in India?

A universal basic income in India?

Globally, the concept of a universal basic income, or UBI, is seen as a non-targeted provision in addition to existing services in health, nutrition, education and so on, but in India much of the talk around it is also directed at attacking “wasteful subsidies” and even the food security programme and the employment guarantee programme.

THERE is a lot of buzz globally around the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). It is perceived as one way of coping with technology-induced unemployment that is projected to grow significantly in the near future as well as reducing inequalities and increasing […]

COLIN MACKAY: Advances causing job losses

COLIN MACKAY: Advances causing job losses

Columnist Colin MacKay. BELLEVILLE – Technological advances are helping to make people’s lives more convenient, but it’s coming at a price.
Automation, especially incorporating robotics, are eliminating jobs, particularly manufacturing ones. The theory goes technological advancement encourages growth and, in turn, creates jobs. However, as robotics continues to advance and replace people, the move away from traditional manufacturing jobs to service jobs is likely not progressing at a break even point. In Davos, Switzerland, at a World Economic Annual meeting, the idea of universal basic income was floated, due to the increasing number of jobs being lost. Replacing […]

The robots are coming, but they won’t be job killers

The robots are coming, but they won’t be job killers

Engineers test a humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 at Hankook Mirae Technology in Seoul, South Korea. The reason for automating rather than going with human labour is to lower the costs of production. Photo: AFP Hong Kong may change its listing rules and introduce a dual-class share structure after the exchange operator said it plans to consult the market on the launch of a third board in an effort to attract more listings by technology and new-economy firms. Photo: AFP Major cities like Hong Kong, London and New York are predicted to face unemployment rates of more than 80 […]

India Considers Universal Basic Income to Eradicate Poverty

India Considers Universal Basic Income to Eradicate Poverty

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The program would cost the government little and go a long way to eradicating poverty, according to the study. | Photo: Reuters The concept of a universal basic income, in which citizens are given a monthly lump sum, is gaining traction. Even Gandhi would like the idea, says the new Indian report. A new government study strongly suggests that India implement a universal basic income, claiming it could nearly eradicate poverty and modernize the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.India’s Economic Study for 2016-2017 devotes 41 pages to justifying why UBI “is a powerful idea […]

Union Budget 2017: 5 things to know about Universal Basic Income, ‘free money’ for all Indians

Union Budget 2017: 5 things to know about Universal Basic Income, 'free money' for all Indians

Universal basic income will replace multiple welfare payments, if it is proposed in Union Budget 2017. The idea of providing Indians with a universal basic income is being seriously explored by the Narendra Modi government, it was revealed less than a day before Union budget 2017 is due to be presented in Parliament. Arvind Subramanian, the chief economic advisor at the Ministry of Finance, said while presenting the government’s annual survey of the Indian economy on Tuesday that there was a strong case in India for replacing multiple welfare payments with a single income.

“It’s an idea whose time is […]

Economic Survey for Universal Basic Income Sees slow GDP growth

Economic Survey for Universal Basic Income Sees slow GDP growth

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday tabled the Economic Survey 2016-17 in Parliament budget session.

The survey projects the economy to grow in the range of 6.75% to 7.25% in the next fiscal year 2017-18 in the post-demonetisation year.

The survey prepared by chief economic adviser in the finance ministry Arvind Subramanian said the adverse impact of demonetisation on GDP growth will be transitional.The Economic Survey 2016-17 advocates the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as an alternative to the various social welfare schemes in an effort to reduce poverty.The shock demonetisation will shave off a good 0.5 percentage point […]

Ontario looking for input on Basic Income Pilot Project

Ontario looking for input on Basic Income Pilot Project

Helena Jaczek, Ontario’s Minister for Community and Social Services, is surrounded by the media at Queen’s Park, in Toronto, on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young) Living in poverty is getting harder.

Paul Chislett of the Windsor Workers Education Centre has close contact with many people who live well below the poverty line.

“It’s very dire," says Chislett.He says the rates need to go up substantially, immediately.“We’ve been talking about raise the minimum wage, raise the rates for social assistance for years and years of this, now seems to be a good time to pull this off," says Chislett.That’s […]