Basic income could prevent the coronavirus pandemic causing an economic collapse

Very helpful, cogent case presented. Lets hope HMG are listening!

Yes. Far better than supporting airlines so that they can go back to polluting the atmosphere as soon as Covid19 subsides.

I think you've made an excellent case for a basic income, surely this is something that's time has come? Disregarding the current crisis, anyone who has even only been keeping a half open eye on the economy will know that retail is currently in crisis and shedding jobs like there is no tomorrow with big chains like Dixons Carphone announcing the closure of all their shops with the loss of nearly 3000 jobs. And there are other chains in a similar predicament. Amazon have already opened their first unstaffed supermarket in the UK and it's only a matter of time before the current big players start to implement similar technology in their shops, with a concomitant shedding of staff. There is rightly much criticism of zero hour contracts, but the real issue is one of exclusive contracts which amount to virtual slavery. A worker is effectively 'on call' to an employer, but yet receives no payment for being available, Increasingly more workers are falling into the category of the precariat, a sector of the workforce who would benefit massively through the implementation of a universal basic income. Zero hour contracts, far from being outlawed, should in fact be strictly regulated, basically making the abusive elements of these types of contracts illegal - such as the requirement for workers to be available exclusively for a single employer - it's all very well for an business to call on staff as and when it needs them, but staff are also entitled to be able to work when it suits them too, and should therefore be free to honour bookings as and when they receive offers of work from any employer in their portfolio of employers, or indeed, decline any offer without penalty. Anyone who has ever worked a zero hour contract knows there are peaks and troughs - times when there is so much work offered that it needs to be declined, and virtual droughts when work is scarce. It is at times like this that a universal basic income would make huge amounts of sense. The cost of a system of UBI would be, as the article pointed out, very high, but not as high as some naysayers might try to predict, and though high in cost, would be far from unaffordable - after all wars are far more expensive. And, as the writer pointed out, the actual cost to the taxpayer wouldn't be as high as the figure paid out as much of it would come back in the form of taxes on purchases, and of course on earned income, which would attract a far smaller tax threshold than is currently the case. So much for focusing on the negatives, the cost. But what about the positives? As people like Yanis Varoufakis has pointed out, a UBI would allow workers to genuinely allow workers to say no to employers demands where they felt the demand unreasonable. This would help immensely in resetting the power imbalance that exists between workers and employers, something long overdue. An employer has always been able to refuse to offer work without sanction, and UBI would allow a worker to refuse work without sanction, other than the loss of potential earnings, of course. UBI would allow people to be more venturous, as, no matter what, there would always be the UBI payment to fall back on if the venture failed - and most successful entrepeneurs will have failed more than once, and then picked themselves up again. Some would choose to forego formal employment and focus on working on projects that are currently in the twilight zone of the voluntary sector where those volunteering are either retired or unemployed with all sorts of bizarre requirements to fulfill. all when they are making a valuable contribution in many cases to society that would cost huge sums were wages or a salary being paid for that work, often crucial work of huge social value. Some would concentrate on self improvement and perhaps for a time not be available to the workforce, thus allowing someone else an opportunity. The time for UBI is now. We are already in a time where the expected work norms of the late 19th century no longer make any kind of rational sense, so why is there still an expectation on workers to live up to those norms? Or the unemployed commit to a ridiculous treadmill existence staring at a computer screen for a large part of a 35 hour working week due to the whim of a maniacal despot sociopath? Even the unemployment figures can't be trusted, and in reality the figure is at least three times the official level. Nor can the statistics for those in work be trusted, as many of the jobs created have been zero hour jobs, where workers are in the perverse situation where they are officially employed, but don't necessarily have work, or payment for work. And even when that work is regular and full time, wage rates are so low that workers have to claim Universal Credit with it's madcap conditionality. For Wales particularly a system of UBI could be just what is needed to transform our economy for the better, as it would immediately throw down the gauntlet to myriad employers who think they can abuse their workforce through paying them poverty pay in industries such as tourism. The entrepeneurship encouraged by a system of UBI may well lead to the formalising of the alternative economy already in existence through necessity in our poorer regions, thus boosting the local economy and the overall tax take. Of course there would be some losers, and in general the Basic Income Earth Network has calculated that their suggested system of UBI would see those on £40k and upwards lose out on a system of UBI in that they would be paying more tax than they received in UBI, but anyone on that kind of money, and more, really doesn't need any more, and is certainly far from being in poverty - and they'd still be getting their UBI payment

I like the thinking but £500 a month(?) isn't going to cover rent, food, fuel costs for many people I know. And these people don't have back up money in spite of being in work or self employed - not because of their own ineptitude but because wages are low for the employed or margins are low for the self-employed so can't build a reserve.

This is one of the most interesting articles on the subject of ameliorating the economic hardship of the pandemic I've seen. Mainstream economists are starting to advocate 'helicopter money' as being the only way to help poorer people where QE which just inflated rich companies asset prices so obviously failed.

A Citizen's Income has been the policy of Gwlad Gwlad from the very beginning: here is an article about it written in November 2018, but it's still the cornerstone of our manifesto: https://gwlad.org/en/2018/11/29/english-a-citizens-income-for-wales/ As for putting a CI into immediate effect as an emergency measure - what Milton Friedman called "helicopter money" - there's a lot to be said in its favour but it's hard to see how the Welsh government could do this in isolation and it would be difficult even for the UK government. At the very least you'd need control over your own currency so you could manage the money supply - something Wales does not have - and you'd need a low enough debt-to-GDP ratio that the markets didn't respond by devaluing your currency to the point of worthlessness. All in all it's an object lesson in the importance of sound fiscal policy in the 'good times' so you have firepower when the 'bad times' come. Gordon Brown's fiscal incontinence weakened the UK's ability to rebound from the 2008 Financial Crisis; and the basket-case economy that the Welsh Labour government has bequeathed Wales leaves us in a weak position to deal with this. Hopefully we can learn some lessons for next time - the benefits of independence and the importance of good economic management.

A ￡500pcm UBI is woefully short of what is needed for many effected by this crisis. Aid needs to targeted and immediate. "Helicopter money" is an interesting idea for a one-off post-pandemic economic stimulus, but now? If businesses are forced to close to enforce social distancing or just go bust in the economic downturn then putting any amount of cash in consumers' hands won't help those businesses or their workers.

A universal basic income would certainly help by giving a guarantee of a modest income in these times, irrespective of current employment status or other income. It has been a manifesto policy of Gwlad Gwlad from the beginning, but we realise it is not an automatic economic panacea, and our discussions on the issue have been useful. In a time of stability are some drawbacks and possible problems with eligibility and possible exploitation. In a time of crisis they would be very difficult to manage. Yes, we should already have rolled it out and dealt with the problems. In this moment of chaos there may be little political consensus in favour of it across the UK as a whole. One of the problems we have discussed at length is bringing in this policy on a Wales only basis after Independence, definitely something you would not wish to do in a world wide crisis. It should help the poorest and most vulnerable to avoid the current pitfalls of the benefit system, prevent dire poverty, and encourage others to develop personal skills and enterprise. However, without other economic controls. the extra income could simply and often be skimmed off by the usual scumbags who exploit the poor and vulnerable, making universal income a benefit primarily for the "better off." As a "Covid-19 bonus" it may not be enough to prevent those who totally lose their income to pay for their regular outgoings, accommodation and utilities and fails to address existing personal debt levels. A crisis, especially one where the ultimate threats to individuals ,society and economy are still predicted at a "best guess" level , may not be the ideal testing ground. However, across the Western world . new policies are and will be rolled out to try and mitigate the social and economic problems of the Covid crisis, and some of these may well better inform future actions, especially if the crisis lasts for some months or even years. At the moment the UK Government has little control over its own economy, other than trying to throw money into saving businesses and jobs. We have yet to see how beneficial the promised UK support is. The Welsh Government has very little opportunity for independent action. A basic citizens income is a good idea, but practically now may not be the best time to introduce it. But in this time of chaos and uncertainty, it may be a straw the UK government feels it should grasp?

There’s a lot of ‘elastoplast’ in existence in the form of rebates on water, electricity, comms, council tax, for those with low incomes. These are essential for people on universal credit and legacy benefits. Historically, prior to privatisation of the utilities, there were ‘social tariffs’ There’s a lot to figure out here.