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[...] Any actual scheme would involve a condition of eligibility and hence the risk of exclusion. Who would then be excluded from the PI? The criteria would exclude those who devoted their lives to pure leisure. The Belgian philosopher Philippe Van Parijs has written a famous article titled "Why Su…

Second, the proposal is for a benefit to be paid on the basis not of citizenship but of "participation", and for this reason it is referred to as a "participation income" (PI). "Participation" would be defined broadly as making a social contribution, which for those of working age could be fulfille…

There is, moreover, a second crucial difference between the two types of scheme: the Child Benefit strategy would continue to make transfers to families with children at all income levels. This means that we have to consider issues of equity, not just between rich and poor, but also between those w…

In the past, the impact of high marginal tax rates lower down the scale was dismissed on the grounds that many people had little discretion about their working hours or intensity of work. However, even if that were true in the past, it has become less so in a labour market where there is greater fl…