Life of ideas. The likelihood of Andrew Yang becoming the next President of the United States is low. With barely 1% of the vote it came second last in the Iowa Democratic primaries. The 45-year-old entrepreneur, however, stood out in defending the idea of a universal basic income. Each American, rich or poor, would receive a "freedom dividend" of $ 1,000 a month. This device would constitute "Perpetual support for growth in employment and the economy", he explains.
In Europe, the debate has stirred people's minds for several years. Without much success. In 2016, the Swiss rejected the introduction of "unconditional basic income". In 2017, Benoît Hamon, who had made it a central point of his program for the French presidential election, had trouble convincing. Finally, in 2018, Finland tested the idea with 2,000 unemployed people before stopping costs a year later.
Richard Nixon launched the idea of a guaranteed annual income for families with children. But the proposal did not find a majority in the Senate
In the United States, the debate emerged in the 1960s, not on the left, but within the monetarist school, champion of economic liberalism. In 1962 Milton Friedman, who had since won the Nobel Prize in economics, advocated the introduction of a "negative income tax", a kind of government allowance to fight poverty. A few years later, Richard Nixon, of whom Friedman was one of the advisers, launched the idea of a guaranteed annual income for families with children. But the proposal will not find a majority in the Senate.
In 1967, the idea of a universal income surfaced again at the other end of the political spectrum with Martin Luther King, who saw it as the best way to fight poverty. In the 1980s, the concept fell into disuse with the arrival of Ronald Reagan. The latter considered that such a device would encourage a culture of unhealthy dependence, incompatible with the value of work.
Defended by Mark Zuckerberg
But recently the debate has picked up. During a graduation at Harvard in 2017, Mark Zuckerberg advocated the concept as an effective support for entrepreneurship and innovation. "We need to explore ideas like basic universal income to make sure everyone has a cushion [financial] to try new ideas "said the Facebook founder.