1 January 2017

Katoikos: Why we need a Universal Basic Income

For Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, today’s growing social disparities are a “ticking time bomb“, both socially and economically speaking. As for Georges Dassis, president of the European Economic and Social Committee, poverty in Europe is not seeing any progress, “nearly one in four EU citizens (about 120 million people) faces the risk of poverty”.

A study from Oxfam reported that 62 people in the world are now in control of more than half of global wealth. A graphic illustration from the Spanish daily El País has depicted how global inequality is growing, with nearly half of the world’s wealth in the pockets of roughly 1% of the world population. [...]

As of 2015, the African population is estimated to be around 1.166 billion, a number that is set to expand greatly in the next decade. In Kenya, an experiment conducted by the charity GiveDirectly is granting 6,000 Kenyans a basic income for a decade. Neighbouring Uganda will also take part in the experiment from 2017 for a period of two years. And China, the second world’s largest economy, is conducting research on the benefits of the basic income.

Advisory firm Forrester released a report in June 2016, revealing that robots will soon replace 7% of US jobs. “By 2021 a disruptive tidal wave will begin. Solutions powered by artificial intelligence/cognitive technology will displace jobs, with the biggest impact felt in transportation, logistics, customer service and consumer services,” said Forrester’s Brian Hopkins in the report.

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