SHAWN HAGEDORN: Basic income grants can soften poverty, but not joblessness
Upliftment requires increasing the productivity of workers who are serving markets with substantial discretionary income
Our political economy has evolved with little regard for 21st-century economic development basics. We must begin to turn the corner by recognising that while universal basic income grants can efficiently mitigate the hardships of extreme poverty, they can’t reduce unemployment.
The average lifetime customer value to a company of young doctors and lawyers is vastly higher than with low-skilled workers. For similar financial reasons, many more people in a low-income community can be uplifted if they add value to high-margin products consumed by 1,000 high-income households than if they contribute to selling low-margin products to 10,000 low-income households. ..
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