Thursday, June 15, 2017

Alex Grey — Universal Basic Income is no magic bullet against poverty, finds OECD

The OECD’s recent report on UBI compares the costs in four OECD countries – Finland, France, Italy and the UK – and concludes that it is no magic bullet for poverty.
For starters, the OECD says that a UBI that lifts people out of poverty will cost much more than countries currently spend on welfare.…
This means that massive increases in taxes – up to 10% of GDP in some countries – as well as a reduction in other benefits, would be needed to fund it.
The report also says that not everyone would benefit. The rich and the poor would gain the least, while people on middle incomes would gain the most. Early retirees also stand to lose out. Those currently on benefits would lose out, says the OECD, especially in countries where existing social protection is comprehensive.
The OECD concludes that, without targeted benefits, or much higher spending, the risk of poverty might actually increase, as people lose their existing benefits in favour of UBI.... 

2 comments:

NeilW said...

Extending the loss aversion response to everybody by putting their taxes up is a sure fire way to electoral success.

Andrew Anderson said...

Question?

Would equally distributing the common stock of all large corporations to a nation's citizens adversely affect the operations of those corporations?

I think not.