[LINK] "Is the fix for poverty as simple as a cheque in the mail?": Guaranteed minimum income in Ont

[rfmcdonald]

NOW Toronto's Malnoe Mullin writes about the upcoming trial of guaranteed minimum income in Toronto.

Buried under a whack of promises, the Ontario budget contains an unusual pledge. Kathleen Wynne and company are on the hunt for a guinea pig, a city willing to pay each of its residents hundreds of dollars a month, no matter their employment status or salary, in return for absolutely nothing.

The idea’s called “guaranteed basic income,” or “mincome,” and it’s being hailed as a possible answer to income inequality.

The single-city project is “still in its inception stage” and has yet to be designed, according to a Ministry of Finance spokesperson. But in theory, it’s a simple fix for poverty, underemployment, precarious work and the rising cost of living.

Of course, if you’re already raking in cash from a decent job, you’ll end up paying the windfall back and then some at tax time. But if you’re on sick leave, have lost your job or are going back to school, mincome ensures you won’t go hungry.

Mincome proposals have been bouncing around in various forms since the days of Thomas Paine, championed by economists and politicos of all stripes ever since and invariably discarded, like other unorthodox ideas, as a pipe dream – a potentially expensive one at that.

More details, including background, at the article.