The Basic Affordability of Basic Income

The Argument

In 1970 James Tobin, an economist, produced a simple formula for calculating their cost. Suppose the government needs to levy tax of 25 percent of national income to fund public services such as education, policing and infrastructure. Paying for a basic income worth 10 percent of the average income requires average taxes to rise by ten percentage points, to 35 percnet. A basic income worth 20 percent of the average income requires average taxes to be 20 percentage points higher, at 45 percent, and so on. Eradicating relative poverty, defined as income beneath 60 percent of the median, would require tax rates approaching 85 percent.

Full article here Scott Santens
Writer and basic income advocate