A universal basic income is back in the news in New Zealand. This spawn of neoliberalism is now being advocated by the Left over Left.
The idea of a guaranteed minimum income was 1st proposed by George Stigler (1946). FA Hayek also supported the idea in the Constitution of Liberty. Milton Friedman championing the idea in his Capitalism and Freedom (1962).
Richard Nixon almost got the idea through the Congress in 1971: a guaranteed family minimum income.
New Zealand already has a guaranteed family income of $22,724:
Minimum family tax credit (MFTC) is paid to families earning up to $22,724 or less after tax to ensure a minimum family income of $437 a week after tax. To get this payment, at least one parent must be working for salary or wages for a minimum number of hours each week.
Curiously, a family tax credit or earned income tax credit is the most successful anti-poverty tool in the late 20th century. Furthermore, those on the Left are relatively convinced that the sole cause of poverty is a lack of money, and the solution is to give the poor more money.
Friedman, Hayek in the Constitution of Liberty, and George Stigler in his great paper on the minimum wage in 1946 all supported a guaranteed minimum income.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments