state

The dystopian truth about a universal basic income

philmullan Economic policy, Employment, state, technology, Welfarism

Proposals for a universal basic income (UBI) are rarely out of the news. UBI is regularly championed, but rarely criticised. If it’s true that it’s an idea whose time has come, as some suggest, we should be very worried indeed.

The basic idea of a UBI is that the state would make a regular guaranteed payment to every citizen, regardless of their means and employment status. It would be set at a level sufficient to cover the ‘basic’ necessities of life: food, shelter and clothing. Its advocates, from the left and from parts of the free-market right, claim that this would simplify the welfare system, tackle poverty and improve recipients’ mental health.

The enthusiasm with which UBI is now being advocated by certain sections of society tells us a lot about how these left-leaning think-tankers, academics, journalists and even some free-marketeers view work, individual autonomy and the potential of automation.

Read the full article here.

The battle for growth

philmullan Economic growth, Economic policy, Politics, Productivity, state

Written and published before Kwasi Kwarteng’s Chancellor’s statement on 23 September, this article explains the background to the mini-budget and the financial convulsions that followed. It argues that a serious and credible plan for growth can’t be reduced to tax-cutting. It goes on to contend that successive governments have failed to appreciate the scale of the economic task at hand. And that is a cultural failing as much as anything.

This failing has three key elements. First, policymakers are plagued by an intellectual shallowness, which underplays the depth of the economic challenges. Second, they adopt a fatalistic approach to economic developments, which underestimates the capacity of the state to change things. And third, the political class has evaded responsibility, with governments repeatedly recoiling from making the decisions needed to bring about an economic renaissance.

Read the full article here.