[Friendly Economy]'Basic Income System' hot-issued in Yeouido… Overseas?

<Anchor>

Reporter Kwon Aeri, a friendly economist. Reporter Kwon, are you talking about the basic income system in politics these days?

<Reporter>

Yes. The basic income system, which means that the country distributes a certain amount of money evenly to every citizen over a period of time, and many people are starting to talk publicly about their positions.

The most recent public opinion was Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul.

Yesterday (7th), it was said that it was negative about the system of just giving out money to everyone through their social media.

Instead, it is to actively promote national employment insurance.

It is also in the same direction as the government is pursuing.

On the other hand, Governor Lee Jae-myeong is a representative runner who actively expresses his opinion to introduce basic income.

I also posted a post on my SNS last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for three consecutive days. This governor is saying that basic income is not an welfare, but an economic policy.

The structure of the future society suggests that the basic income should be set so that many people can consume stably, and the economy will run better.

<Anchor>

By the way, there are a lot of politicians who say that this time is something that is positive about the basic income system or that it is time to start discussing it?

<Reporter>

Yes. Last week, Jong-In Kim, chairman of the Future Unification Party, and chairman of the opposition party, Kim Jong-in, publicly hailed the topic.

In fact, even when the 20th National Assembly opened four years ago, Kim mentioned the need for basic income in his speech.

At that time, I wasn't at the center of the topic as much as I am now, but now it's an atmosphere where anyone who is already in a position of responsibility or is about to go to a position of responsibility should decide his position on this matter or at least start to think about it.

It is known that both the opposition parties and the lawmakers are preparing for basic income-related legislation. Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon has not yet revealed his correct position on basic income, but in March, he said, "It is not closing any possibilities." I mentioned it.

In addition, Ahn Cheol-soo, the representative of the National Assembly, Yoo Seung-min, and Rep. Kim Doo-gwan are all voting in favor of starting the discussion.

However, the government and the Blue House, which is now in charge of saving the country, are not in the process of politicians, but are in an early stage to discuss basic income in detail. Not yet considered.

<Anchor>

I think the discussion will begin soon, centering on the political sphere. Is there a country that has already introduced the basic income system?

<Reporter>

There is no country yet. However, there is a system similar to basic income in Alaska. It is already a 40-year-old system.

It separates some of the profits from selling oil from Alaska each year and puts it in a fund similar to the National Pension.

The fund's return on investment is given once a year as a dividend for residents, so the amount is slightly different each year, which is about 2.4 million won per year.

Other than this, experiments have been conducted in recent years.

In 2017, Ontario, Canada, took three years and began experimenting with 4,000 people, but it was stopped in a year.

The reason was that it was impossible to maintain because it was too expensive. At this time, 10 million won to 15 million won per person was given.

Finland has paid 700,000 won per month and 8.4 million won per year to 2,000 people for two years from 2017, but after the experiment was over, they decided not to start earning basic income.

At the time, the conclusion was that "the quality of life of the recipient was high, but there was not much effect in increasing employment".

The reason why the employment story comes out here is that Finland's experiment had the effect of increasing employment by simply giving basic income instead of unemployment benefits.

The contents of reducing the existing welfare were contained to some extent.

Other than that, Switzerland conducted a referendum on basic income in 2016, and 77% objected to it.

Of course, the fact that there are so many cases so far does not justify the need to start a discussion.

The society is changing so fast, and the claim of basic income can be seen as a concern for this rapidly changing world.

However, the fact that starting from small-scale experiments with thousands of people in Finland, which has a population of only 5.5 million and also has few people and Canada, is clear that it suggests that basic income is a lot of issues to review.

If the debate really begins, you will need to be able to weigh resources and sustainability closely without being overwhelmed by the immediate political climate or popularity.

There seems to be a need to discuss the possibility of consolidating or reducing tax issues or other welfare without neglecting.