Courtesy of Mish.
On December 7, I strongly criticized Finland’s decision to give every citizen $870 each month, tax free.
For an outline of the proposed deal, and my response, please see Bernanke’s “Helicopter Drop” Hits Finland; Prime Minister and 70% of Finnish Support “Free Money”; Dauphin Canada Revisited.
Wealth Redistribution
In response to my post, reader “MH” sent two emails, the first asking question about wealth redistribution and the second citing Hayek. Here is the first email.
Hi Mish,
I was hoping you would blog on the Finnish proposal and almost emailed to ask your opinion, so thanks for the post.
Over the years I have learned an awful lot from you, and these days I defer to your judgement on most things. However, are you sure you have this right?
Isn’t this a very much simplified and therefore efficient taxation/welfare system compared to anything existing today. And crucially it overcomes the increasing problem of what to do with those who can’t or won’t work, especially given the rise of robotics.
Libertarianism is a hard sell in the 21st century … and I speak as a libertarian. Democratic populations will never elect a government which is OK with people damn-near starving when they simply can’t find work.
I agree with the vast majority of what you write, but it seems to me that your views need to cater for an age of ubiquitous automation when human labour might become increasingly obsolete. How does Austrian economics deal with this if not via a ‘basic permanent income’ allied to free-market economics plus the rule of law?
Regards,
MH
On Guaranteed Wages
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