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The more interesting referendum that is still pending in Switzerland is the guaranteed monthly income referendum. There is another pending referendum, as yet un

by lambda 13y ago

The more interesting referendum that is still pending in Switzerland is the guaranteed monthly income referendum. There is another pending referendum, as yet unscheduled for vote, about paying every Swiss citizen a guaranteed monthly income of 2500 CHF (~$2755). The guaranteed monthly income has long been a proposal for getting rid of a whole host of complicated welfare schemes, which sometimes have perverse incentives that prevent you from getting back to work as they go away if start earning money. The idea is simple; just give everyone a certain basic amount of money, no matter how poor or wealthy. It would be quite a bold move if Switzerland actually implemented it. I have my reservations, but traditional need-based welfare has so many problems, it would be interesting to see if such a dramatic change would actually work.

acslater00 13y ago
Agree that it is the more interesting referendum. Tyler Cowen wrote about these sorts of proposals a week ago and I really think he hits the nail on the head. Like many, I'm attracted on an intellectual level to the idea of replacing the thicket of social services and redistribution programs with a single basic income. The problem is I simply can't imagine a world where a real-world government could commit credibly to that sort of policy long term. There's just way too much to be gained by saying, "well the GBI is great, but I think this group does need something a _little_ more than everyone else. And then instead of replacing the thicket, it just becomes part of it, and at that point has very little to recommend it as policy. I also agree it would be interesting to see a country other than mine try it out so we could see the effects play out. Cowen: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/11/what-are-some-of-the-biggest-problems-with-a-guaranteed-annual-income.html http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/11/wha...
patatino 13y ago
I can tell you this will get like 80% no votes. We voted two years ago if we want 6 weeks of vacations instead of 4 resulting in 66% no votes. Swiss people like to work. We are raised with the believe that work is our strongest asset. I talked to a lot of people about this topic. It's hard even to find one who might consider it even remotely.
- brownbat 13y ago
  This seems orthogonal to how much the Swiss like to work once you consider it as a more efficient replacement for existing benefit systems, rather than adding a new benefit. I guess electorates are bad at understanding opportunity costs though, so they might vote for a more expensive version of something they don't like, to prevent appearing to support the less expensive version of that thing.

by lambda 13y ago

acslater00 13y ago

Agree that it is the more interesting referendum. Tyler Cowen wrote about these sorts of proposals a week ago and I really think he hits the nail on the head. Like many, I'm attracted on an intellectual level to the idea of replacing the thicket of social services and redistribution programs with a single basic income. The problem is I simply can't imagine a world where a real-world government could commit credibly to that sort of policy long term. There's just way too much to be gained by saying, "well the GBI is great, but I think this group does need something a _little_ more than everyone else. And then instead of replacing the thicket, it just becomes part of it, and at that point has very little to recommend it as policy. I also agree it would be interesting to see a country other than mine try it out so we could see the effects play out. Cowen: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/11/what-are-some-of-the-biggest-problems-with-a-guaranteed-annual-income.html http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/11/wha...

patatino 13y ago

I can tell you this will get like 80% no votes. We voted two years ago if we want 6 weeks of vacations instead of 4 resulting in 66% no votes. Swiss people like to work. We are raised with the believe that work is our strongest asset. I talked to a lot of people about this topic. It's hard even to find one who might consider it even remotely.

brownbat 13y ago
This seems orthogonal to how much the Swiss like to work once you consider it as a more efficient replacement for existing benefit systems, rather than adding a new benefit. I guess electorates are bad at understanding opportunity costs though, so they might vote for a more expensive version of something they don't like, to prevent appearing to support the less expensive version of that thing.