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Budget 2017: Can India afford to pay its poor a fixed income every month?

Budget 2017: Can India afford to pay its poor a fixed income every month?

Nilesh Pinto
Moneycontrol

The annual Economic Survey, which is to be presented next Tuesday, will feature a chapter on universal basic income, a form of social security that would put a fixed sum of money into the pockets of every unemployed and poor Indian.
Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramaniam said the chapter would explore the unconditional income as a tool for poverty reduction. A government official said the chapter only seeks to initiate a debate on the subject, so it is highly unlikely that the budget for 2017-18 will announce such a scheme. But the issue has long divided opinion […]

Case for targeted basic income

Context
The idea of a basic income is not new

Issue: Universal Basic income
Not a new idea Author states that the idea of a universal basic income is not a new one.Read More: To know in detail about the historical genesis of the idea of basic income please visit this linkWhat Bertrand Russell wrote about basic income? “A certain small income, sufficient for necessities should be secured to all, whether they work or not, and that a larger income — as much larger as might be warranted by the total amount of commodities produced — should be given to those […]

Manufacturing jobs are finally returning to North America…for robots

Manufacturing jobs are finally returning to North America…for robots

Amazon fulfillment centres use robots for a growing number of tasks. (Brandon Bailey/AP) Let’s start with the good news: manufacturing is returning to North America. It is called “re-shoring” and is happening for several reasons. Chief among these is that labour costs in Canada and the United States are becoming relatively more competitive as the Chinese economy soared and wages there gradually caught up to more developed economies. But there are other factors at play here, too.

In North America, corporate tax rates have become more globally competitive, as has the cost of energy. Land is also far cheaper in […]

Does Automation Really Wreck People’s Lives and Cause Unemployment?

Does Automation Really Wreck People’s Lives and Cause Unemployment?

There seems to be a lot of fear mongering, especially in the UK, when it comes to automation and the role it plays in causing unemployment, despite evidence that suggests the contrary. Throughout the ages, as humanity evolved, so has the technology and now advancements from the automation industry are helping people work better, faster and in safer conditions, as many jobs that are dangerous can now be performed by robots . However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that by embracing the benefits of automation, employees’ jobs will be at risk and millions of jobs will disappear.

Instead, what’s been happening […]

The French ponder ‘joie de vivre’ in a work-free future

What role will work play in our future lives populated with robots and driverless vehicles? As France prepares to elect a new president, it is wrangling with bigger issues than simple election manifestos.

The catalyst for the soul-searching has been a proposal from leading Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon to adopt a universal basic income —a state handout of around 750 euros ($805) a month, made to everyone.

"I expect that the digital revolution is going to make work increasingly rare… and we need to prepare for that," Hamon says, underlining how advances in the welfare system have been criticised in […]

San Francisco is launching an experiment to give families free money

San Francisco is launching an experiment to give families free money

A basic income experiment is coming to San Francisco, California.

Announced at a January 23 forum hosted by the city’s Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE), a subsection of the Office of the Treasurer, the experiment will reportedly be a pilot program focused on families and children, Hoodline first reported .

Basic income is a wealth-distribution system that involves giving every citizen a fixed amount of money each month to cover basic living expenses. Advocate argue that by strengthening the social safety net, fewer people will be able to slip into poverty, ultimately creating healthier and happier societies.Some early evidence in the […]

Work in an automated future

Disruptive technologies are now dictating our future, as new innovations increasingly blur the lines between physical, digital and biological realms. Robots are already in our operating rooms and fast-food restaurants; we can now use 3D imaging and stem-cell extraction to grow human bones from a patient’s own cells; and 3D printing is creating a circular economy in which we can use and then reuse raw materials.

This tsunami of technological innovation will continue to change profoundly how we live and work, and how our societies operate. In what is now called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technologies that are coming of […]

#BasicIncome is a Basic WINcome! [The Occupied Sun Says…]

#BasicIncome is a Basic WINcome! [The Occupied Sun Says…]

The Occupied Sun Says… Policies NOT Personalities!

If the world’s tabloid churnalists focused on solutions to the challenges that lie ahead (instead of what Trump or some other false idol just tweeted), we would be in an infinitely better position to face these challenges.

Here’s just one of many solutions that aren’t getting anywhere near enough airtime; Basic WINcome! 1) A Basic Income would help us rethink how & why we work. It would help each of us to decide what it is we truly want to do. 2) It would contribute to better working conditions. With the insurance […]

Koss Corporation Releases Second Quarter Earnings

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS ), the U.S. based high-fidelity headphone company, has reported its second quarter results for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

"It was a difficult quarter with softening of sales to Scandinavia and Asia as well as certain European markets. The declines were partially offset by strong sales in the export OEM business as well as improved sales in the U.S.," Michael J. Koss, Chairman and CEO, told employees here today. "Earnings were negatively impacted by this change in sales mix."

Sales for the second quarter were $6,687,797, which is a […]

To Fix Employment, Fix Automation–The Real Job Killer Of Our Age

President Trump likes to blame trade, immigration, and over-regulation for job losses in the American heartland. But that’s generally not how economists see it. They say machines are a more important reason why companies don’t employ people like they used to. In several industries, like steel, industrial output is as high as it’s always been. It’s just that manufacturers need less labor to do the work. “Almost 88 percent of job losses in manufacturing in recent years can be attributable to productivity growth,” one recent study by economists at Ball State University said.

If it’s true that automation is more […]