In May 2021, following on from its webinar on Modern Monetary Theory, Radix published a paper called Money for Nothing. Written by Kevin Langford, the report examined the feasibility of setting up a job guarantee scheme or universal basic income for the UK, as well as looking at alternatives for redistribution in light of increasing political pressure to tackle the inequalities laid bare by covid.
The paper sets out a number of proposals to address Britain’s increasingly unequal society, including twice yearly helicopter money’ for all adults, carbon tax dividends for young people and a regular payment based on a share of a sustainable GDP’.
It examines both universal basic income (UBI) and job guarantee schemes in detail but concludes that neither is financially nor politically viable. Both, however, continue to attract interest across the political spectrum, with the Labour Party, Lib Dems and particularly the Greens considering such mechanisms to begin to address inequality.
Our webinar will include a presentation of Kevin’s findings and hear responses from some of those responsible for developing policy in this area.