Guaranteed Minimum Income Money for Nothing?

By an overwhelming 3-to-1 margin, Swiss voters have rejected a proposal that would have guaranteed all residents a monthly income, whether they worked or not. Yet supporters of the concept elsewhere are not taking the Swiss “no” for an answer.

Frequently proposed in the past, guaranteed income for all is back in vogue because of fears that robots and artificial intelligence threaten whole categories of jobs, especially for less skilled workers, and that any remaining jobs will be unstable “gigs.” Mass poverty and inequality loom.

Economists’ usual prescription is greater investment in education and training, to equip people for high-paying work. The guaranteed-income movement says it’s smarter and simpler to separate subsistence from labor.

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