Finland considers a universal basic income for all citizens

[Xela]

it's an old Milton Freidman idea.

Exactly so.

It's been widely discussed in many countries for many decades.

And contrary to its perception in some quarters, it's actually an old right-wing idea, not an old left-wing idea at all.

 

[ETcallhome]

Exactly so.

It's been widely discussed in many countries for many decades.

And contrary to its perception in some quarters, it's actually an old right-wing idea, not an old left-wing idea at all.

I like the old jewish year of jubilee law. Just make it big and make it one time. For instance, anyone who was a citizen on Dec 31 gets 800/mo for life. Citizen on Jan 1? sorry.

 

[d08]

The same already exist in France, but the amount is tiny : any citizen over 25 years ( I am not sure the age has been lowered), is given automatically around 450Euros on a monthly basis if they have zero source of income. This was introduced, as the then president feared "rebellion" due to a rise in mass unemployment ( French are known to express in no uncertain terms what they do not want).It is a cheap way to buy social peace.
Many people actually do not even ask for it.

Not the same, to my knowledge Finland is offering it to any citizen unemployed or not. That's excellent in the sense that it's true fairness.
So 2 people can actually afford to share a small apartment without working.

 

[ETcallhome]

Not the same, to my knowledge Finland is offering it to any citizen unemployed or not. That's excellent in the sense that it's true fairness.
So 2 people can actually afford to share a small apartment without working.

couldn't agree with you more. The number one tool and power for the government comes in the form of means testing. Both in benefits and in taxation.

 

[Jones75]

What do you think of this idea? $870 per month—to everyone!

http://qz.com/566702/finland-plans-to-give-every-citizen-a-basic-income-of-800-euros-a-month/

Hey, where do I sign up?

I'm living in Ontario (on the edge of bankruptcy), Canada and the gov here pays unions, millions of tax payers $'s, just to come to the bargaining table, and no receipt required. True. Mainstream media uncovers it, makes headlines, then forgotten two weeks later. And by the way, the last union boasted on how they had 65 million in the bank.

So I have no guilt or shame if any gov wants to give me $870 month.

 

[smallStops]

Not the same, to my knowledge Finland is offering it to any citizen unemployed or not. That's excellent in the sense that it's true fairness.
So 2 people can actually afford to share a small apartment without working.

Indeed; I did not realise that if the person had any income, tehy would still qualify.
Could this bring hyper-inflation to Finland?

 

[d08]

Indeed; I did not realise that if the person had any income, tehy would still qualify.
Could this bring hyper-inflation to Finland?

Finns are spendthrift and it's not like it's a lot of money for most of them.

 

[SwingToWin]

800 EUR in finland is not even enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the suburbs of Helsinki and pay utility bills for it.


source: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Finland&city=Helsinki

 

[d08]

That's a lie. I speak a little Finnish and looked it up on jokakoti.fi, you can get a small-ish apartment in Helsinki burbs for €550, that leaves €250 for electricity, internet and water - it's plenty.

 

[ETcallhome]

at anyrate, the idea is to eliminate food stamps, welfare, section 8 housing and replace it with social security for life and give everybody from Warren Buffet all the way down to me x$ per month adjusted for inflation. It's simply a much more cost efficient way of distributing wealth if that is what you want to do.