The Institute for Economic Justice recently circulated a report on a big, bigger, and biggest basic income grant (BIG). Its big BIG (a “low ambition option”) would cost R275bn a year, the bigger BIG (“medium ambition option”) R375bn, and the biggest BIG (“high ambition option”) R500bn.
The institute’s modelling concludes that all these options will pay for themselves.
The report substantially overstates the affordability and positive macroeconomic effects of pursuing such a policy. We argue that its cure for SA’s ills is likely to be worse than the disease itself — that is, a big, bigger or biggest BIG would impede […]
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