Many economists see a universal basic income as a potential solution to the shortcomings of existing income support programs, but, however conceptually elegant, a UBI raises many practical questions. Would just handing out cash turn us into a nation of layabouts? Do poor people really respond rationally to changes in program design? Do economic incentives need to be supplemented by administrative work requirements?
We will get some answers from several well-designed experiments now getting away around the world, cogently summarized in a new report from BIEN, the Basic Income Earth Network. A program in Finland will compare the existing unemployment […]
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