Saturday, August 22, 2015

Vito Laterza — Greece to roll out a Guaranteed Minimum Income scheme

The new bailout agreement between Greece and international creditors includes plans for a national roll-out of a Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI).[i] The GMI is not an unconditional basic income for all citizens, but would be the first universal means-tested grant that covers all Greeks below a certain level of income and asset ownership, regardless of employment status, job contract type, professional category, gender or age.

In the latest round of bailout negotiations, Greek Prime Minister Tsipras reportedly opposed the introduction of the GMI. The final memorandum approved by the Greek parliament last week, however, provides for a national roll-out of the GMI by end of 2016. The government needs to find 0.5% of GDP to finance the national GMI scheme. A draft report from the World Bank published in January this year, provides a core scenario where 1.2 million people would be covered by the GMI – this is constructed on the basic qualifying criteria and payment amounts of a GMI pilot started last year. The measure would cost €980 million or 0.54% of GDP.…
BIEN
GREECE: Government to roll out a Guaranteed Minimum Income schemeVito Laterza, research fellow at the University of Cape Town and the editor of the Human Economy Blog
ht Clonal

10 comments:

Roger Erickson said...

They already rolled out one for German banks. :(

The Irish did too.

Peter Pan said...

It's better than having no income at all.

NeilW said...

It's important to note that these schemes are just a form of corporate subsidy - like Tax Credits.

A basic income isn't a basic income until anyone can say: "I can live on that, I'm not going to work". Until you can choose to retire when you feel like it, regardless of age, you don't have a basic income system.

There are far too many basic income people crowing about schemes that are really just unemployment benefit, state pensions or tax credit systems. All of which really just prop up corporations that should probably go bust.



Roger Erickson said...

Hear, hear, Neil.
Every proposal can be subverted, and every effort can be betrayed. That's why the only viable aggregate is one with enough feedback infrastructure to maintain adequate, inter-component feedback rates.

In simplistic terms, an informed electorate that PRACTICES achieving worthy, aggregate challenges.

Practice teamwork. Wotta concept. How do we get back to teaching that as goal #1 to all citizens, starting in Kindergarten, and continuing to practice it in the highest policy offices?

Roger Erickson said...

Somehow, somewhere, we gotta start a school teaching that, and then add extras to make sure that that school's graduates succeed at what they MUST do personally, while ALSO relentlessly promoting what their aggregates must do.

In short, prepare students for the reality of overtly practicing a 2-stage optimization task.

They days of optimizing either component or team, separately, never did work. Evolution proved that.

Peter Pan said...

Worker co-ops?

Roger Erickson said...

Worker co-ops! Wouldn't that require democracy?

/......................Democracy.............................\
feudalism..capitalism..tribalism..co-ops..socialism..communism

What's a demos to do? :) Wise up?


We're wandering in a strange land, and can't get a bearing on our changing selves. :(

Roger Erickson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roger Erickson said...

for formatting inclusiveness

/......................................Democracy.............................................\
feudalism..capitalism..tribalism..co-ops..socialism..communism

Peter Pan said...

It would require teamwork. It would involve new experiences for workers having to play the managerial/ownership role.