Can Older Citizens Lead the Way to a Universal Basic Income?

Susan St John

Chapter Chapter 5 in Basic Income in Australia and New Zealand, 2016, pp 95-114 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The basic income idea has many admirers but few ask the practical question of how we get from where we are to an ultimate basic income “Nirvana.” A big bang approach, such as suggested by Morgan and Guthrie in The Big Kahuna (2011), is unlikely to be politically acceptable. People are nervous about large shifts from one paradigm to another. The essential trade-off is that a level of basic income for all that removes poverty would be very expensive. Moreover, the taxes necessary to fund it would entail high marginal rates and would have an impact on behaviour, for example, the willingness to earn extra income. Thus, while the idea of a basic income is intellectually appealing, unless we can realistically show how to get there, it will remain in the textbooks.

Keywords: Disposable Income; Child Poverty; Married Rate; State Pension; Basic Income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:etbchp:978-1-137-53532-0_5

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137535320_5

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