7 ms·

odd there was no attempt to present solutions or show if any of the countries were trying to find any. Basic Income won't solve this mess unless you are willin

odd there was no attempt to present solutions or show if any of the countries were trying to find any. Basic Income won't solve this mess unless you are willing to give up a lot to get it. As in it won't be free, some benefits will go by the wayside as BI will need to cover all your needs. I figure education will hit the block first, get a job while on BI to prove you can hold one then you can get schooling or more advanced trade skill training. the problems with BI are many. politicians and such would have a difficult time establishing how much is enough because even those who wholly exist on a BI system would demand access or the ability to obtain certain items and goods. the danger is establishing by government edict a permanent underclass, appeased just enough to keep them from challenging the system. likely to be better to incentivize hiring people by providing discounts/paybacks/guarantees to employers to get the people in place

zigzigzag 10y ago
In France at least, attempts to liberalise labor laws tend to cause riots. I don't know about Spain or Italy but they have famously sclerotic labor markets that never seem to get reformed. It's just not a priority of the voters. Not sure what's going on with more liberalised countries like the Netherlands, but consider the massive influxes of people from continental Europe to the UK, which has relatively relaxed labor laws, and that may have something to do with it. Also, note that most of the people the article covers don't have any skills worth talking about. They studied art history, social analysis, hotel management and things like that. Such people would find it hard to find a committed employer even in better times. The first example is a doctor, but she suffers from a double whammy of regulation: not only labor laws but also licensing that makes it hard for her to even relocate to a better run country.

zigzigzag 10y ago

In France at least, attempts to liberalise labor laws tend to cause riots. I don't know about Spain or Italy but they have famously sclerotic labor markets that never seem to get reformed. It's just not a priority of the voters. Not sure what's going on with more liberalised countries like the Netherlands, but consider the massive influxes of people from continental Europe to the UK, which has relatively relaxed labor laws, and that may have something to do with it. Also, note that most of the people the article covers don't have any skills worth talking about. They studied art history, social analysis, hotel management and things like that. Such people would find it hard to find a committed employer even in better times. The first example is a doctor, but she suffers from a double whammy of regulation: not only labor laws but also licensing that makes it hard for her to even relocate to a better run country.