Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Chris Weller — Iran introduced a basic income scheme, and something strange happened

One of the biggest criticisms of basic income, a system of giving people modest salaries just for being alive, is that it discourages people from working.

A new report on an ongoing cash-transfer program launched in 2011 in Iran may cast some doubt on the claim....
Global Economic Forum
Iran introduced a basic income scheme, and something strange happened
Chris Weller | Ideas Reporter, Business Insider
ht Ryan in the comments

7 comments:

Noah Way said...

Democracy is a code-word for capitalism. The goal of democracy is to defeat any system that can or does compete with it. Thus communism, socialism, Islam (riba - unjust gains such as interest), etc. are dire enemies of democracy and must be eradicated from the face of the Earth.

Tom Hickey said...

And so-called democracy is not democracy as rule of the people by the people and for the people.

It is republicanism, which was devised to secure elite control while providing the illusion of democracy through the façade of periodic elections in which the elite control the selection process.

It's just another game of dupe the rubes.

The question is whether actual democracy is feasible. If not republicanism is probably the next best thing since in principle the people can throw the bums out, even if not in practice.

Matt Franko said...

Dont tell me people stopped working and went to full time cutting heads off ????

Ryan Harris said...

A traditional religious conservative government tried a BIG because it solved a practical problem. They weren't constrained by rigid liberal economic rules and ideology.

Brian Romanchuk said...

The serious complaints about the program was not the effect on labour market participation, it was the effect on taxes. Minsky did the analysis of a negative income tax in the late 1960s, and that was the problem. From an MMT perspective, people could complain about the funding assumption he takes, but you would still have to raise taxes to avoid inflation. If you raise taxes enough, people will drop out of the formal labour force; if you disagree, just come talk to the people at Revenu Quebec.

Iran can only get away with it because they are using oil revenue, which can be thought of as a tax on foreign purchaers of Iranian oil.

Matt Franko said...

"Hey! In 2 years I can afford a used iPhone 5 and follow ISIS on twitter!!!!"

Brian Romanchuk said...

I saw a thread on Twitter that points out that the payment was fixed, and then there was a 30% inflation. It had no effect, as its value was inflated away. Exactly what one would expect.

Apparently the middle classes blamed the inflation on the transfer. Understand it better than the UBI proponents.