Die Neue Zeit
14th September 2013, 15:26
I said this over a year ago and before that, but Francine Mestrum went beyond bullet-point form:
The unconditional basic income: a solution? (http://www.globalsocialjustice.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=491:the-unconditional-basic-income-a-solution&catid=10:research&Itemid=13)
The first one relates to citizenship, this is the idea that all human beings are equal and have equal rights.
[...]
The BI is unconditional, which means that huge targeting and management costs can indeed be avoided.
[...]
The BI also makes an end to ‘the precariat’, people who today have no rights and therefore no interest in defending the rights of social security. Migrants and refugees can now participate in the labour market precisely because they do not respect the social rules and can offer their labour force at a much lower price. By eliminating labour costs above the net paid wages, the BI can make an end to the ‘black’ or ‘informal’ labour market which is based on competition.
By also eliminating the pressure to look for a job or to create jobs, it would no longer be necessary to subsidize companies.
With a BI system, people would be free to participate or not in the labour market. Labour would become much cheaper, not only because non wage labour costs would disappear but also because employers would not be willing to continue to pay the same net wage above the BI.
[...]
A first doubt emerges because neoliberals are among the advocates of the BI.
[...]
It is within this liberal framework that many countries already have a ‘negative income tax’: when your income falls below a certain level, the state will pay you the missing amount. Of course, this is different from what the advocates of the BI defend today, but one should never forget that a minimum income is perfectly acceptable in a neoliberal context, whereas a minimum wage is refused for distorting markets.
[...]
From working in mines to picking fruit or garbage collection, there are some tasks that no one will be prepared to do willingly, out of conviction and with enthusiasm.
[...]
But the responsibility of the State stops when the minimum floor of BI is reached. Social progress through higher incomes stops to be a task of governments and income inequalities can rise.
Questions can also be put concerning the feasibility and the desirability of unconditionality. The freedom given to people is very important, but what if the BI is used for gambling or drinking? Is the State responsible for people who fall off the wayside of minimal protection?
[...]
By eliminating non wage labour costs, labour will become far more cheaper for employers. The advantage for them is much more important than for workers who still will have to fight for decent labour conditions. In whatever way the BI is being financed, it will always be some kind of tax to be paid by everyone. And that means that labour costs which are now paid by workers and employers as part of the wage cost, will have to be paid by the whole of society, possibly through a higher VAT rate. It thus comes down to a shift from labour costs to costs for society. It is obvious that trade unions are not very keen on such a system. It will become much more difficult to negotiate good labour conditions, certainly when the BI is not high enough to live on. If workers do not only want to survive, but also want a car or a holiday abroad, it will become difficult to put pressure on employers. It is clear that trade unions will lose much of their power. The freedom not to work is very relative and is only valid when one is satisfied with a life in relative poverty. Chances are real that wages above the BI will remain very limited. An unconditional income outside of the labour market cannot influence that labour market. Contrary to the thesis that capitalism is being eroded, it is possible that one ends up with a capitalism without a labour market and that employers pass on as many costs as possible to the whole of society.
[...]
The system that will emerge from neoliberal reforms implies a lowering of social assistance and unemployment benefits, in such a way that people will at any rate be obliged to accept a ‘mini job’, even after they are pensioned. This system does not benefit anyone, except employers.
The BI is a system conceptualized by liberals that want to make labour more cheap, without allowing to eradicate poverty. It is conceptualized by the enemies of trade unions. It is also conceptualized by progressive people who think social protection is too complicated and who want to seriously simplify it. There are good arguments to defend such an idea, but the current proposals are highly unsatisfactory.
The unconditional basic income: a solution? (http://www.globalsocialjustice.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=491:the-unconditional-basic-income-a-solution&catid=10:research&Itemid=13)
The first one relates to citizenship, this is the idea that all human beings are equal and have equal rights.
[...]
The BI is unconditional, which means that huge targeting and management costs can indeed be avoided.
[...]
The BI also makes an end to ‘the precariat’, people who today have no rights and therefore no interest in defending the rights of social security. Migrants and refugees can now participate in the labour market precisely because they do not respect the social rules and can offer their labour force at a much lower price. By eliminating labour costs above the net paid wages, the BI can make an end to the ‘black’ or ‘informal’ labour market which is based on competition.
By also eliminating the pressure to look for a job or to create jobs, it would no longer be necessary to subsidize companies.
With a BI system, people would be free to participate or not in the labour market. Labour would become much cheaper, not only because non wage labour costs would disappear but also because employers would not be willing to continue to pay the same net wage above the BI.
[...]
A first doubt emerges because neoliberals are among the advocates of the BI.
[...]
It is within this liberal framework that many countries already have a ‘negative income tax’: when your income falls below a certain level, the state will pay you the missing amount. Of course, this is different from what the advocates of the BI defend today, but one should never forget that a minimum income is perfectly acceptable in a neoliberal context, whereas a minimum wage is refused for distorting markets.
[...]
From working in mines to picking fruit or garbage collection, there are some tasks that no one will be prepared to do willingly, out of conviction and with enthusiasm.
[...]
But the responsibility of the State stops when the minimum floor of BI is reached. Social progress through higher incomes stops to be a task of governments and income inequalities can rise.
Questions can also be put concerning the feasibility and the desirability of unconditionality. The freedom given to people is very important, but what if the BI is used for gambling or drinking? Is the State responsible for people who fall off the wayside of minimal protection?
[...]
By eliminating non wage labour costs, labour will become far more cheaper for employers. The advantage for them is much more important than for workers who still will have to fight for decent labour conditions. In whatever way the BI is being financed, it will always be some kind of tax to be paid by everyone. And that means that labour costs which are now paid by workers and employers as part of the wage cost, will have to be paid by the whole of society, possibly through a higher VAT rate. It thus comes down to a shift from labour costs to costs for society. It is obvious that trade unions are not very keen on such a system. It will become much more difficult to negotiate good labour conditions, certainly when the BI is not high enough to live on. If workers do not only want to survive, but also want a car or a holiday abroad, it will become difficult to put pressure on employers. It is clear that trade unions will lose much of their power. The freedom not to work is very relative and is only valid when one is satisfied with a life in relative poverty. Chances are real that wages above the BI will remain very limited. An unconditional income outside of the labour market cannot influence that labour market. Contrary to the thesis that capitalism is being eroded, it is possible that one ends up with a capitalism without a labour market and that employers pass on as many costs as possible to the whole of society.
[...]
The system that will emerge from neoliberal reforms implies a lowering of social assistance and unemployment benefits, in such a way that people will at any rate be obliged to accept a ‘mini job’, even after they are pensioned. This system does not benefit anyone, except employers.
The BI is a system conceptualized by liberals that want to make labour more cheap, without allowing to eradicate poverty. It is conceptualized by the enemies of trade unions. It is also conceptualized by progressive people who think social protection is too complicated and who want to seriously simplify it. There are good arguments to defend such an idea, but the current proposals are highly unsatisfactory.