[Josh Martin]
SUMMARY: Pilkington’s article covers many of his objections to the basic income guarantee (BIG). While he appreciates the buzz the BIG is generating right now, he sees many potential issues including labor shortages and immigration policy dilemmas. Instead, he recommends a Jobs Guarantee program as a replacement for the BIG.
Philip Pilkington, “Money for nothing”, Al Jazeera, 6 June 2014.
Milton Friedman supported a BIG for all Americans. Source: Al Jazeera
“One alternative proposal is the Jobs Guarantee (JG) program. The idea behind the JG is that the government guarantees everyone who is willing and able to work a job at a fixed wage. The government then invites charities and nonprofits to sign on to the program and offer citizens work on neighborhood projects and others that are judged to be beneficial to the community as a whole.”
The alternative is simply UBI with work commitment. The moment someone takes up a job, he loses this “UBI”. This will really make people think trice before taking up a job. UBI has no such negative effect because UBI is not affected by job.
Pilkington seems to be confusing a BIG with unemployment, and most of his criticisms seem to involve the effects of choosing being taking the BIG and going to work. As most proposals for a BIG go to people whether they work or not, few of these criticisms apply. Indeed, so are reasons many BIG supporters prefer a BIG to traditional welfare.