A vision for the future

The idea of a guaranteed income is a realistic and much-needed proposal for the 21st Century.

Chris Hughes is one of the entrepreneurs and philanthropists at the heart of the effort to raise awareness of the positive benefits of unconditional cash transfer programs.

He pragmatically distances himself from the concept of a full UBI given to all citizens. This is mostly a marketing tool to repackage the idea, but it also has unfortunate consequences. The commonsensical insistence on limiting the income support for people participating in the labour market (loosely defined) and making less than $50,000 a year adds a layer of bureaucratic complexity that worsens the model by loosening the "guarantee" part of the guaranteed income.

He also insists on raising taxes exclusively on the 1% (a controversial value judgment) and on keeping intact minimum wage laws (a bad idea) and a bunch of supplementary welfare services (another economically dubious solution). These, again, seem like unnecessary complications that distract from the simplicity of the idea.

The book is also rhetorically a bit boring and lacking in fire power. MLK the author is not.

Nor does the book offer great revelations about Chris Hughes the co-founder of Facebook. The book feels a bit too restrained and controlled in its delivery - as if ghost-written by a lawyer.

Despite these reservations, I think the book is worth listening to, since the basic idea is so powerful and revolutionary. If we cannot build bipartisan support for the idea of guaranteed minimum income (whether in the precise form as proposed by Mr. Hughes or hopefully not), we do not deserve to call ourselves civilized.

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