LOS MARGINADOS: MercatorNet: Do we need a Universal Basic Income? Our summer reading list || MercatorNet

lunes, 20 de junio de 2016

MercatorNet: Do we need a Universal Basic Income? Our summer reading list || MercatorNet

Will there be enough work? That’s the basic question facing developed economies with flat growth as employment shifts from agriculture and manufacturing to services. It appears that there might not be jobs for the uneducated and unskilled.

One response to this is the idea of a universal basic income: the government gives everyone, rich and poor alike, a monthly stipend just for showing up for lunch. As a solution for unemployment, it has pedigree. Back in 1516 Thomas More mooted it inUtopia. One of his characters observes: "Instead of i[hanging thieves by the dozen], it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody’s under the frightful necessity of becoming, first a thief, and then a corpse."

One American journalist has called the UBI the “world’s simplest plan to end poverty” and the idea is gaining traction in the media. Finland is considering it. However, Swiss voters rejected it overwhelmingly in a referendum earlier this month. In our lead story today, Alejo Sison argues that a key question is missing from the debate: the dignity of work.