Providing a basic income could boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by $US163 trillion while acting to curb environmental degradation, UBC research has found.
An analysis of 186 countries found that providing basic income, or regular, set payments to all adults in the world, could boost global GDP by about 130 per cent. For every dollar invested, approximately US$4 to $7 of economic impacts could be generated, according to the study published on June 7 in Cell Reports Sustainability, which the researchers believe is the largest of its kind to date.
"Environmental damage and poverty both pose huge risks to society," said senior author Dr. Rashid Sumaila, a professor in the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) and the school of public policy and global affairs. "By requiring that major polluters pay to clean up their own messes, or the Polluter Pay Principle', you have a creative approach to address both issues by de-incentivizing environmental pollution through taxation and the removal of existing environmentally harmful subsidies, and using those funds to support a basic income."
