Posted on 02/08/2019 7:19:39 PM PST by Hadean
COPENHAGEN, Denmark A nationwide experiment with basic income in Finland has not increased employment among those participating in the two-year trial, but their general well-being seems to have increased, a report said Friday.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, or Kela, said "it was not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions" from the first half of the experiment, where about 2,000 randomly selected, unemployed people aged 25-58 got tax-free income of 560 euros ($636) a month with no questions asked.
Finland is looking into ways to reshape its social security system and became in January 2017 the first European country to launch the trial, which will end in 2020.
Critics say universal basic income reduces incentives for people to look for work.
Proponents say it can empower people to start new businesses, knowing that they would continue to receive monthly income no matter how well their new venture does. It can also encourage people to try a new job without the fear of losing their unemployment checks or having to go through the paperwork of reapplying for benefits.
"Earlier, I didn't accept all small jobs out of fear of losing my benefits and having to reapply for them," said writer Tuomas Muraja as he was on his way to a sauna before heading out for an evening at the opera.
"I feel much more secure now that short-term jobs no longer reduce my benefits or delay their payment."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
What is never mentioned in the Finland experiment....was cost. Several European journalists discussed this last year....that everytime this came up in some panel or public forum, cost was never discussed. With 2,000 people, there’s not too many problems in covering this expenditure. I think if they went to finance this for a whole decade, and across the whole country, then you could wipe out the entire defense budget two times over.
What some had hoped with the unemployment rate (it bounces between 7.5 percent and 10 percent on a routine basis), is that it would finally start to drift down to 5-percent. But the data from this ‘test’ didn’t show anyone making a big effort to start their own shop or small company.
It's hard to sell a car with no wheels. It's best to talk about everything except the fact that it has no wheels.
2,000 randomly selected, unemployed people aged 25-58 got tax-free income of 560 euros ($636) a month with no questions asked
If done here everyone on the list but whites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RDMdc5r5z8
Milton Friedman nailed it so many years ago.
The four ways to spend money
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