UBIDeGrauwe

Arguments

A universal basic income can never take off

He argues based on calculations in [1] that:

• We still need to fill in a gap of 35 billion euros (we give everyone a basic income and deduce the unnecessary costs of the government)
• This would mean that the tax pressure would go from 50% to 60% of the bbp which is unsustainable
• A working majority receives a basic income that is independent of the labour effort, but will have to pay extra taxes (and not a little bit) for their labour. And that is the best way to demotivate to go to work.

Counterarguments

• There is extra income to be found in extra jobs in the private sector + if 15% of the children is raised in poverty, don't they provide a tremendous potential + ...
• Who says the 50% of the government capacity can not be decreased?
• We are already doomed at more than 50% -> we are sleepwalking towards 60 right now, with 54 already
• The most important motivation for work is not the income. The income should be righteous. Motivation is more like: being able to work independent, being able to feel your place in the organisation (e.g. by communicating with peers, ...) , have the right competences, ....
• If you compare wages in Belgium right now, then you can see that for a diverse range of professions, the wages are not that far from each other either.
• Even if we tax more on labour with a basic income, the end result might still be less taxes.