Finland will hand out cash to 2000 jobless people to test universal basic income
I agree with basic income, but most analyses of it are backwards.<p>For most of history, governments addressed unemployment by starting wars. By shipping off to war, the unemployed temporarily get a job. They either come back dead or ready to take a new job in an economy revitalized by the stimulus of government war spending.<p>John Maynard Keynes noticed this pattern, especially during the Great Depression and WW2, and made a brilliant suggestion: continue with these government interventions, but keep the government spending and drop the war part. We call it &quot;Keynesian economics&quot;, but really, what Keynes invented was capitalist peace. And guess what, since then, no two countries that both had McDonald&#x27;s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald&#x27;s. [1]<p>We need a Keynesian boost today, not because of technological progress, but rather the contrary: the rapid technological progress of the 20th century that brought tremendous economic prosperity to humanity has finally come to a grinding halt. Let&#x27;s stop denying this. The stream of lifechanging breakthrough inventions of the 20th century, from A (antibiotics) to Z (zippers), have ended. As a result, we now suffer from secular stagnation, something Keynes understood very well back then, and Larry Summers understands in the present. [2]<p>It&#x27;s especially absurd to claim that automation is the cause of this. Automation has already upended society: it was called the Industrial Revolution and happened 200 years ago. The upheaval caused then to human lives and employment was far more dramatic than anything happening today.<p>And basic income is simply the most fair way to apply Keynesian policy. It is more fair to split the money up and distribute it equally to every individual than it is for the government to buy things on their behalf. Highly distributed spending will also avoid creating market distortions and liquidity traps. [3] And the resulting economic boost will lead to increased tax revenues and, who knows, maybe more jobs -- this time not subject to labor market distortions caused by people being desperate for work.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Lexus_and_the_Olive_Tree" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Lexus_and_the_Olive_Tree</a>
[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;larrysummers.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;02&#x2F;17&#x2F;the-age-of-secular-stagnation&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;larrysummers.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;02&#x2F;17&#x2F;the-age-of-secular-stagna...</a>
[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Liquidity_trap" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Liquidity_trap</a>