Universal Basic Income and the Threat to Democracy as We Know It

Universal Basic Income and the Threat to Democracy as We Know It

Author: Peter Nelson

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2018-05-08

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 1948198657

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Some of the greatest minds of the century have predicted that computers or artificial intelligence will replace 80 percent, if not more, of the world’s workforce. The only uncertainty is the time frame, with the average prediction at about 30 years, although many believe it will be sooner. No matter the exact period, the impact on our planet will eventually be enormous because governments will still need to find a way to provide the unemployed with money on which to live and a Universal Basic Income (UBI), or something similar, is proposed to be paid to everyone without means test. That solution might appear well in theory, but the large numbers of unemployed will not want to be marginalized and will demand over time that the UBI be increased. Following human nature, under a democratic system as we know it, supposedly based on one person one vote, people will vote for whoever gives them more, and more, until the economic system breaks down, unable to afford the payments. The question is whether democracy will survive the challenge or whether we finish with a benign group of bureaucrats at the top who decide what is in the best interests of the majority and the rest of the global population simply accepts it.


Economic Dignity

Economic Dignity

Author: Gene Sperling

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1984879898

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“Timely and important . . . It should be our North Star for the recovery and beyond.” —Hillary Clinton “Sperling makes a forceful case that only by speaking to matters of the spirit can liberals root their belief in economic justice in people’s deepest aspirations—in their sense of purpose and self-worth.” —The New York Times When Gene Sperling was in charge of coordinating economic policy in the Obama White House, he found himself surprised when serious people in Washington told him that the Obama focus on health care was a distraction because it was “not focused on the economy.” How, he asked, was the fear felt by millions of Americans of being one serious illness away from financial ruin not considered an economic issue? Too often, Sperling found that we measured economic success by metrics like GDP instead of whether the economy was succeeding in lifting up the sense of meaning, purpose, fulfillment, and security of people. In Economic Dignity, Sperling frames the way forward in a time of wrenching change and offers a vision of an economy whose guiding light is the promotion of dignity for all Americans.


Exploring Universal Basic Income

Exploring Universal Basic Income

Author: Ugo Gentilini

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2019-11-25

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1464815119

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Universal basic income (UBI) is emerging as one of the most hotly debated issues in development and social protection policy. But what are the features of UBI? What is it meant to achieve? How do we know, and what don’t we know, about its performance? What does it take to implement it in practice? Drawing from global evidence, literature, and survey data, this volume provides a framework to elucidate issues and trade-offs in UBI with a view to help inform choices around its appropriateness and feasibility in different contexts. Specifically, the book examines how UBI differs from or complements other social assistance programs in terms of objectives, coverage, incidence, adequacy, incentives, effects on poverty and inequality, financing, political economy, and implementation. It also reviews past and current country experiences, surveys the full range of existing policy proposals, provides original results from micro†“tax benefit simulations, and sets out a range of considerations around the analytics and practice of UBI.


The Narrow Corridor

The Narrow Corridor

Author: Daron Acemoglu

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 0735224382

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How does history end? -- The Red Queen -- Will to power -- Economics outside the corridor -- Allegory of good government -- The European scissors -- Mandate of Heaven -- Broken Red Queen -- Devil in the details -- What's the matter with Ferguson? -- The paper leviathan -- Wahhab's children -- Red Queen out of control -- Into the corridor -- Living with the leviathan.


The War on Normal People

The War on Normal People

Author: Andrew Yang

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published: 2018-04-03

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0316414255

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The New York Times bestseller from CNN Political Commentator and 2020 former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, this thought-provoking and prescient call-to-action outlines the urgent steps America must take, including Universal Basic Income (UBI), to stabilize our economy amid rapid technological change and automation. The shift toward automation is about to create a tsunami of unemployment. Not in the distant future--now. One recent estimate predicts 45 million American workers will lose their jobs within the next twelve years--jobs that won't be replaced. In a future marked by restlessness and chronic unemployment, what will happen to American society? In The War on Normal People, Andrew Yang paints a dire portrait of the American economy. Rapidly advancing technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and automation software are making millions of Americans' livelihoods irrelevant. The consequences of these trends are already being felt across our communities in the form of political unrest, drug use, and other social ills. The future looks dire-but is it unavoidable? In The War on Normal People, Yang imagines a different future--one in which having a job is distinct from the capacity to prosper and seek fulfillment. At this vision's core is Universal Basic Income, the concept of providing all citizens with a guaranteed income-and one that is rapidly gaining popularity among forward-thinking politicians and economists. Yang proposes that UBI is an essential step toward a new, more durable kind of economy, one he calls "human capitalism."


Basic Income and the Left

Basic Income and the Left

Author: Philippe Van Parijs

Publisher:

Published: 2018-04-30

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 9781999715151

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The Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) is one of the most hotly debated ideas of recent years on the left - and, indeed, right. The potential threat to millions of current jobs posed by robotization and artificial intelligence combined with the rise of inequality has contributed to making it a core element of the continuing post-crisis discussions on what it means to be on the left, or a social democrat, today and in the future. Is an unconditional basic income without means-test or work-test compatible with social justice and individual self-worth? Does it open up the space for an end to demeaning labour and a resurgence of voluntary work and cultural life? Is it affordable? This collection of short but compelling essays, all previously published in Social Europe, allows both proponents and opponents to make their case and is designed to extend this vital discussion to a wider audience. We are proud to have spearheaded the debate on an issue that is of vital and enduring importance for Europe and beyond.


A Primer on Microeconomics, Second Edition, Volume I

A Primer on Microeconomics, Second Edition, Volume I

Author: Thomas M. Beveridge

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2018-09-26

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 163157728X

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This two-volume text represents a common sense approach to basic microeconomics. Economics, far from being the dismal science, offers us valuable lessons that can be applied to our everyday experiences. At its heart, economics is the scientific study of choice and a study of economic principles allows us to achieve a more informed understanding of how we make our choices, whether these choices occur in our everyday life or in our work environment. Volume One, Elements and Principles, delivers clear statements of essential economic principles, supported by easy to understand examples, and uncluttered by extraneous material; the goal is to provide a concise readable primer that covers the fundamentals of microeconomic theory. The text looks at opportunity cost; the rationale for trade; the efficient operation of competitive markets; and develops and expands the economist’s basic demand and supply model.


Macroeconomics, Second Edition, Volume I

Macroeconomics, Second Edition, Volume I

Author: David G. Tuerck

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2018-09-28

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1947098772

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This book, produced in two volumes, takes an integrative approach to the study of macroeconomics. In that respect, the book brings the different strands of macroeconomics together into a single approach under which economic agents strive to make rational choices but, while doing so, sometimes misconstrue the data available to them. The result is imbalances between aggregate supply and aggregate demand that can cause economic contractions. These imbalances may be self-correcting, or they may become long-lived and require government intervention through the exercise of corrective monetary and fiscal policy. Volume I examines economic behavior on the assumption that economic agents correctly interpret the data before them. It thus takes a “micro foundations” approach, under which aggregate supply equals aggregate demand. Volume II allows for the possibility of myopia on the part of economic agents and for the resulting economic malperformance that can result from this myopia. It examines the short-run disparities between aggregate supply and aggregate demand that can result from ill-informed choices of individual economic agents or from a misdiagnosis of economic data by policy makers. It concludes with a review of recent U.S. economic policy. The book aims to correct a good number of misconceptions that bedevil economic policymaking—among them the idea that protracted economic contractions necessarily call for increased government spending and lower taxes. It challenges the common understanding that government deficits raise interest rates and “crowd out” private investment.


A Primer on Macroeconomics

A Primer on Macroeconomics

Author: Thomas M. Beveridge

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2018-09-26

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1631577263

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Every few generations, a technoeconomic revolution topples the status quo of how work is done, creating an opportunity for new leaders to emerge. Generative AI for Marketing is meant to position the current and future marketers to become those leaders and lead their organizations in the AI era. To succeed in leveraging AI, organizations must look beyond practices that were established before the AI era. This book elucidates the evolving role and needs of Generative AI in marketing, providing a blueprint for businesses to thrive in an ever-evolving business landscape by achieving the agility and adaptability needed to sustain growth with AI. Tailored for marketers and business students alike, readers will gain a commanding set of tools to master the trifecta of foundational AI knowledge, its applications in Marketing, and the knowhow to automate growth without increasing costs.


Negotiation Madness

Negotiation Madness

Author: Peter Nelson

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2018-07-01

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 1948580942

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There have been many books written about negotiation techniques, but all of these have been turned on their head by the ability of Donald Trump to make it to the White House. Ignoring all precedents and defying even his own party, he has opened an era where neither tradition nor precedent remains the order of the day. Fake news has become the entertainment watchword in an era where a president can send out his own daily tweets to millions of followers and the world press, and no one is able to pre-empt his message or know how to respond. In what would be described negotiation madness, Trump incites confrontation into intransient situations: opening an American embassy in Jerusalem and provoking a North Korean leader by a silly name, which nevertheless still initiates first-time discussions between north and south. If he doesn’t get his wish through Congress, he pretends to give up, plays the man not the issue, going against what all the negotiation books tell you, then comes in again to get what he wants. At every turn the standards of negotiation need to be rewritten in what has become as much politics as entertainment, ego rather than substance, and this is what is targeted in Peter Nelson’s Negotiation Madness.