Roope Mokka, co-founder of the independent Nordic think tank Demos Helsinki, believes that a universal basic income provides a springboard for the creation of a new universal monetary system.

In a piece for Slush, he contrasts several arguments put forward by UBI advocates (e.g. as a way to increase employment, as the Finnish government hopes, versus a way to cope with increased un-employment due to technology). He then argues that the potential long-term benefits of a UBI–conceived as a way to usher in even more radical changes to the economy and monetary system–could be even more profound than most supporters have envisioned.

Mokka has written previously on basic income for Demos Helsinki. In one blog post, for example, Mokka describes how Finland’s novel commitment to experimental politics–to testing policies before implementing them, rather than merely speculating about the results–lay behind its ability to experiment with basic income. In another, he compiles the views of five prominent advocates on what basic income should be and why it matters.

Read more:

Roope Mokka (October 16, 2016) “Basic Income Could be the Moonshot of Our Generation” Slush.


Photo by NASA/David Scott, Public Domain.