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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.
