In a future where more and more jobs are gobbled up by unstoppable steamrolling automation Not everyone will be able to find work!

Even trucks, trains, tractors, trams and taxis could become completely autonomous and only need to stop for regular routine maintenance! Robotic lawn mowers, will roll-out even if it's too hot for you!

And when the lawn is a bowling green, roll back to the recharging station to top up the battery!? Ditto vacuum cleaners and other household aids?

With little enough left for the unskilled to rely on?

Only those kids with good science and maths being able to count on employment?

Yet the economy, no matter how automated or efficient, will need cashed up consumers to survive!

And could mean the only choice is a basic, after tax, survival income for all, with that and anything earned over and above a universal stipend, taxable income?

Yes, that will incur some essentially unavoidable churning! But better than the tax avoidance that would otherwise occur, if some income streams were excluded for any reason!

The rest requires a rational approach to affordable housing and the elimination of the profit demanding middleman! Given eliminating this element and doable, could virtually halve the cost of living/essential economy sustaining consumption!

If one of the most successful entrepreneurs on the planet, the CEO of Tesla Motors, understands and implements this maxim? Then so also should those allegedly charged with effectively managing OUR economy!
Alan B.

Alan B, sorry for my ignorance but I cannot understand how this tax you are describing will work?
Could you elaborate? I am not looking to argue against it but understand and support.

I'm all for the universal basic income. The part I don't get is the proposal to give it to everyone regardless of their income. That seems just plain stupid to me.

My thoughts are that it should work from a base of, say, $30,000 p.a. indexed. Anyone who earns less than that is paid a monthly amount that meets the shortfall. This would be based on the previous year's assessable income according to each person's tax return. Recipients would be able to earn another, say, $20,000 p.a. before it affects their UBI - giving a maximum income of UBS + employment earnings = $50,000. This would deter people from falling into the 'what's the point of working if it's deducted from my UBS?' trap.

This would negate the massive administrative waste that is presently spent on policing the worthiness of a person's right to welfare assistance or all the administrative detective work involved in determining if someone is ripping off the system (to catch the 2-3% who actually do). By making everyone eligible on the same basis - students, homemakers, carers, disabled, unemployed, over 65s - it would eliminate all the petty, messy administrative categories that presently apply.

It would also do away with the lucrative rort of privately contracted HR firms receiving exhorbitant fees to 'interview' recipients on a weekly,fortnightly or whatever basis to assess the person's 'employability' and/or willingness to work.

As for those who decide to not work at all and just live on $30,000 a year and not seek employment - well, what's wrong with that? They would be freeing up jobs for those who actively seek to earn more than $30,000 a year. Also, people who want to pursue a non-workforce lifestyle - domestic care, creative pursuits or volunteerism - will be free to do so. Who knows? There could be a massive outpouring of artists, writers, inventors, entrepreneurs and such, who till now have had to make the unhappy choice of pursuing their dreams or sleeping under a bridge.

Welfare costs in 2020 are estimated at $220bln, and we can't even break even in our budget.
No it's not a problem at all you goose.
Didn't bother reading any more after the first few sentences...

"Universal basic income"! Is that tomfoolery still on someone's agenda? To my knowledge, there is no where in the world that such a warped idea has ever been practised, nor any indication that it ever will be. Perhaps the PNG cargo cult was the closest thing to it.

It looks like the socialists are dismayed at how resilient democracy really is, & how long it is taking t kill it off with the thousand of cuts they have so far inflicted on it.

If they could just get this little lot up they would have the western word bankrupt in no time. All those would be bludgers who like a little more money than the dole, would come pouring out of the woodwork. The beaches, clubs & pubs would be overrun with the rush. Of course, anyone left working for a living would be quick to demand much higher wages.

I guess it would get rid of tens of thousands on the taxpayer payroll, as the money ran out, but hey, they could then get that 30,000 handout couldn’t they? Pigs flying all over the place too.

Everald's little joke for the week.