Basic Income plans (Canada, Finland, Swiss) - Madness

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The idea is to send everyone a monthly check that would either supplement or replace altogether, complex systems of state benefits thereby making households better off and saving the government money in the process.

As The Independent notes, Ontario is set to become the latest locale to float the idea: “Ontario has announced it could soon be sending a monthly cheque to its residents as it plans to launch an experiment testing the basic income concept."
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But don’t think Ontario is alone.

“Finland plans to outline a basic income plan for its citizens later this year, while the Dutch city of Utrecht launched an experiment in January, involving welfare recipients, to see what effect a basic income would have,” Huff Post wrote, late last month. And don’t forget, “the Swiss will vote in a referendum in June to decide whether to implement a basic income of some C$3,200 per month.”

We profiled the upcoming Swiss vote here, noting that the plan could make the country the first in the world to pay all of its citizens a monthly basic income regardless if they work or not.

Amusingly, the Swiss said something similar to the Canadians about the link between the basic income and work. "The initiative’s backers say it aims to break the link between employment and income," The Daily Mail wrote, of the Swiss plan. Much as Ontario thinks a basic income would "strenghten the attachment to the labor force."

Those statements are so counterintuitive as to be laughable.

As long as federal and local governments are running a surplus that can account for these programs while staying in balance we suppose that's fine, but what happens when people simply stop working and tax revenues fall? Do you then tax the basic income to pay for the basic income? That seems silly. And if not, do you sell bonds to the central bank to fund the program? And wouldn't those bonds be claims on tax revenues which would only keep falling as the incentive to work decreases?

Who knows, but we're sure smarter people than us have thought it through. Or not.
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http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-...anada-ontario-pledges-basic-income-experiment

:rotflmbo:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. :paperbag:
 
What if I retire and move to one of these places? Since I am not working, I am paying little in taxes and I get free fiat currency...
 
It will please the voters
It will ensure spending
Its easy to create
it might even trigger a little bit of inflation

What could possibly be wrong with this idea ?

Better if they all do this together then no one is to blame ........

And what a fantastic reason for being 'All In'
 
Once they start down that road, they will never be able to stop it. What politician is going to vote to deprive their constituents of a benefit (especially one they depend on)? People think it's politically impossible to cut Social Security here in the USA. This would be at least an order of magnitude worse in terms of political capital needed to cut/kill it.
 
Yup impossible to stop once started, so inflation is the only available exit.

Just a question of how we can have inflation without raising interest rates, cos gov cannot afford to pay to service the existing debt level never mind the new one when everyone gets free money.

And how quickly the inflation builds.

There doesnt seem to be a long term solution in the thinking ......
 
Business Insider

Can not speak as to veracity of the article.

San Antonio experimented with giving people $5,108 no-strings-attached. They spent it on housing and school supplies for their kids.​

  • San Antonio's guaranteed basic income pilot helped low-income families afford housing.
  • Participants received a total of $5,108 in no-strings payments over 25 months.
  • Texas is a key state for income pilots, with programs also launching in Austin and Harris County.
When Monique Gonzalez received her money from the San Antonio guaranteed basic income pilot, she bought school supplies, shoes, and Christmas gifts for her children.

The mother of six said the program allowed her to afford things her family had "put on the back burner" because they didn't have the money. Gonzalez told UpTogether — a national nonprofit that has sponsored a series of GBI programs — that basic income was what she needed to invest in her children's future.

San Antonio is one of several cities nationwide piloting guaranteed basic income programs. The programs offer no-strings-attached cash payments to low-income individuals over a set time period. Participants in cities including Denver, Austin, Boston, Minneapolis, and Durham have reported using the money to secure housing, afford transportation, buy groceries, pay off credit card debt, and drop second jobs. Some programs, like the one in Denver, have been so successful that their funding was extended.

UpTogether led San Antonio's pilot, investing $5,108 in each of the 1,000 individuals and families participating over a 25-month period. Program participants had household incomes that fell below 150% of the federal poverty line — which is $46,800 for a family of four — and many were facing financial hardship or job loss because of the pandemic. Participants received an initial $1,908 payment in December 2020, followed by eight quarterly payments of $400 between April 2021 and January 2023.

More:

 
I had a thought:

What if these insanities need to happen to wake enough people to get to the critical mass?
 
What if I retire and move to one of these places? Since I am not working, I am paying little in taxes and I get free fiat currency...

My plan except to move internationally.
 
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