The Australian JobKeeper policy (or in MB parlance DoleHider) was in part based upon a similar UK version. At FTAlphaville, Guy Standing, author of “Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen”, and “Battling Eight Giants: Basic Income Now”, argues that a universal basic income is a better fit for supporting the economy during the coronavirus crisis than the current support packages on offer.
As someone who has advocated basic income for over 30 years, and tested it in various communities, I am pleased by the recent conversion of longtime critics. Even the Pope has come out in favour of the concept, which is best described as a governmentally funded periodic payment delivered to all, unconditionally. The case for it is normally an ethical one. In normal times, the economy could theoretically survive without it. Not today, because no other policy can provide everybody with basic security and thus the personal resilience needed to help pull the economy out of what is a simultaneous demand and supply shock.
But do the support measures taken so far by the government make economic sense? As an economist, I ask of any policy: Does it reduce inequality? Is it ecologically sustainable? Does it distort labour markets or increase efficiency?
