India floats the idea of a universal basic income
economist.com
India floats the idea of a universal basic income
1–10 of 252 posts
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#2> proposal stops a little short of true universality: for his sums to add up, take-up must be limited to just 75% of Indians. That means either a return to flawed means-testing, or a hope that the better-off will voluntarily opt out.
That's easy: just wrap it in social stigma.
I'm sure there's plenty of (socially) lower-middle class Britons who are eligible for one or other benefit scheme that they either don't realise, or couldn't bare to enrol in.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#3Interesting idea, for a country with so many in real poverty it would be a good step forward. This is a country which had to build toilets to improve sanitation so their issue with a very established lower class is easily seen.
If all members of a house hold receive the benefit, set a minimum age so as not to encourage more births, then even that low proposed amount will add up in for a poor family. The new issue is to make sure those who provide goods and services in those areas don't exploit this new income unfairly
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#4> proposal stops a little short of true universality: for his sums to add up, take-up must be limited to just 75% of Indians. That means either a return to flawed means-testing, or a hope that the better-off will voluntarily opt out. That's easy: just wrap it in social stigma. I'm sure there's plenty of (socially) lower-middle class Britons who are eligible for one or other benefit scheme that they either don't reali…
While I agree that wrapping it in social stigma would help w/the numbers, it'd set a very bad precedent for the idea of basic income in general.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#5I guess Iran is the only country with universal basic income already in place then!
the income is not much and you probably can't live of it without working, but it is universal!
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#6> proposal stops a little short of true universality: for his sums to add up, take-up must be limited to just 75% of Indians. That means either a return to flawed means-testing, or a hope that the better-off will voluntarily opt out. That's easy: just wrap it in social stigma. I'm sure there's plenty of (socially) lower-middle class Britons who are eligible for one or other benefit scheme that they either don't reali…
The problem is that it is hard to pull off in a bigger population like India's. Social stigma doesn't work if all your friends are doing it too.
My perspective is that the problem runs way deeper than this and any kind of social welfare scheme will be abused in India. This is because majority of the tax paying population thinks that they don't get enough for their taxes.
This might be somewhat justified because taxes in India can jump quite high (up to 30% of income) without seeing much increase in your net savings in major cities. This is compounded by the fact that a very low fraction of the eligible population actually pays taxes (this is due to most people being employed in the unorganized sector) which leads the government to try to maximize whatever it can get from the ones who actually pay.
This is evident in how so many relatively well off people haven't given up their LPG subsidy even after repeated requests by the government.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#7> proposal stops a little short of true universality: for his sums to add up, take-up must be limited to just 75% of Indians. That means either a return to flawed means-testing, or a hope that the better-off will voluntarily opt out. That's easy: just wrap it in social stigma. I'm sure there's plenty of (socially) lower-middle class Britons who are eligible for one or other benefit scheme that they either don't reali…
Social stigma will be real difficult to attach there. In India a lot of people take pride in being called backward or lower caste so they can mooch off some or other government subsidy or reservation to jobs/education. As the article mentioned it is almost always better offs who game the system to their benefit.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#8I guess Iran is the only country with universal basic income already in place then! the income is not much and you probably can't live of it without working, but it is universal!
Alaska, a thoroughly red state has universal income.
Likewise, it is not enough to live off.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#9> proposal stops a little short of true universality: for his sums to add up, take-up must be limited to just 75% of Indians. That means either a return to flawed means-testing, or a hope that the better-off will voluntarily opt out. That's easy: just wrap it in social stigma. I'm sure there's plenty of (socially) lower-middle class Britons who are eligible for one or other benefit scheme that they either don't reali…
Social stigma will be real difficult to attach there. In India a lot of people take pride in being called backward or lower caste so they can mooch off some or other government subsidy or reservation to jobs/education. As the article mentioned it is almost always better offs who game the system to their benefit.
No snark intended, but it seems India is the best place to test a basic income for both durability and uptake.
Re: India floats the idea of a universal basic income
#10Isn't this the wishful thinking again of free energy, or infinite motion engine? Weren't we done with that already?