This article looks at how the basic income would support workers moving between jobs, giving them a greater degree of security.
The full article is available here:
Fidelis Spies, “Taking Leave may mean the End of your Job – Solutions?”, Living Income Guaranteed, 3rd October 2014
Peter Cooper, “Technology Paves the Way for Basic Income More than a Job Guarantee”, heteconomist, 2014 September 26
[Josh Martin]
In this post on The Week, Cooper discusses the political debate surrounding a universal basic income. While some policy circles advocate it, politicians are stuck debating the “something for nothing” objection to the basic income, instead preferring to push work on those in poverty. However, Cooper points out trends in work that show decreasing job openings and increasing job seekers, leading him to say, “As someone with a nice, stimulating job, I agree that work can help people flourish. But in an economy that is flatly failing to produce enough jobs to satisfy the need, a universal basic income will start to seem more plausible — even necessary.”
Ryan Cooper, “America is running out of jobs. It’s time for a universal basic income.”, The Week, 9 September 2014.
A supermarket-style food pantry in New York City helps families in need. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The author lays out the continuing increase of structural unemployment due to technological advances, stating that Thomas Rodham Wells’ solution of a universal basic income “may be the simplest means of defusing rising tensions”.
Gil Smart, “Smart Remarks: As jobs disappear, we may need even more government handouts”, Lancaster Online, 27 July 2014
[Craig Axford]
Experts responding to a Pew Research survey were nearly evenly split on the question of whether or not robots and digital agents would displace a significant number of workers between now and 2025, creating huge knock on effects for the economy as a whole in the process. According to the Pew Report’s key findings, “Half of these experts (48%) envision a future in which robots and digital agents have displaced significant numbers of both blue- and white-collar workers—with many expressing concern that this will lead to vast increases in income inequality, masses of people who are effectively unemployable, and breakdowns in the social order.” Stowe Boyd, lead researcher with Gigaom Research, argued “The central question of 2025 will be: What are people for in a world that does not need their labor, and where only a minority are needed to guide the ‘bot-based economy?”
Aaron Smith & Janna Anderson, “AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs”, Pew Research Internet Project, August 6, 2014