Some R2BC And The Crisis To Come

First day of 7th Grade. This is all I got.

I only blogged once in August because there was little to say. We watched Netflix and You Tube, we had dinner a couple of times with friends, DD went to one Bat Mitzva party (a picnic in the Botanical Gardens), she had a friend over a couple of times, and we got fat. That was our summer. Reason 2B Cheerful - we didn't get corona. 

Today is my birthday. I'm nearer 50 than 40 (and always will be). So that's one Reason 2B Cheerful. And another is that we're invited out to dinner tonight. 

DD is back at school for four days a week for half days. This week she was in the second shift - 10.50 am till 2.20 pm. Next week she'll be in the 8 am till 10.20 group. The second shift isn't so good. They have more school hours but there's a lot of hanging around in the morning waiting to leave. It's only a 12 minute walk to her school. 

Only on Fridays it's different because the school closes at 12.30 pm for the weekend. I thought she had a 10.20 start this morning so I didn't hassle her about the time. Suddenly she flies into a panic at 9.40 because that was when her first lesson started. I had no idea. She ran out of the house crying to run up the hill (it's a mountain) in 35 deg C heat. She'll be ok but I felt for her. It's not nice to have to walk in late in the first week of a new school. 

On Sunday and Monday she has distance learning from home for the full 6 hours. It's a R2BC that DD has some sort of schedule again, even if it requires keeping on the ball to know where she should be and when. 

Israel has gone from being among the best coping countries during the first wave, to being the worst as of this week. We are now the top country for the number of new cases in relation to population. R2BC - I did an online supermarket shop and we have enough food in the apartment to see us through the threatened lockdown in the coming weeks. 

Did I mention that my salary a my college has been reduced by 60% for the same amount of work? I'm prepared to take one for the team during this crisis but the great terms of employment we had BC (Before Corona) will never be reinstated AD (After Disaster). What we have now is what most colleges do and have done for years. I enjoyed extremely generous terms for 10 years and now it's over forever. R2BC - thanks for the great first 10 years. 

I'm not panicking about the salary situation because there are about 3 million people in this country who are worse off than me. People in service industries, tourism and all 'non-essentials' related jobs. All these people have either lost their jobs or are on greatly reduced income. People who rent and have a number of children to feed. People in the early years of a large mortgage. Older people who might never find work again. This is not a R2BC but the government will not allow half the country to be homeless and starving so solutions will be found. This is a Reason 2B Hopeful.

I read that the real economic crisis won't hit until next spring when we'll have the beginnings of people using up all their savings and redundancy money, and unemployment payments stop (you only get a year of dole money here). 

My nephew tried to explain to me that he heard from an economist (his brother) that because it's a world wide phenomenon, governments will be allowed to print more money without devaluing their currencies as long as all countries print the same amount of money. This money can be used for stimulus projects and income support. So R2BC - we will cope and we will survive. 

The sad thing is that these drastic stimulus measures will only be implemented when most people have used up all their savings. They will survive but all dreams of a better future (buying a better property or even just getting on the property ladder, opening a business, a comfortable retirement, etc...) will have been dashed and we will have to start from scratch. Or maybe a more modest world will be good for all of us. R2BC? I'm not sure. 

So amongst the doom, about eight or nine Reasons 2B cheerful or at least grateful and hopeful. And this is why I've not blogged for the past few weeks.

A last R2BC is that the R2BC linky is back on Becky's blog - Lakes Single Mum. Check her out for beautiful photos of Kendal and The Lakes. 

Will Universal Basic Income Save The Economy?

Don't be so quick to object. 

I am no economist although I did do Economics A Level, and this is a blog post not an in-depth analysis based on hours of academic research. That said, here are some half-baked ideas after reading a few popular articles about how to save the economy. Please feel free to discuss it with me in the comments or on facebook but don't be rude. This is an idea that deserves a conversation at least.

The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) is not new. It means that every individual gets a government grant to cover rent, modest utilities, basic clothing, and food. Here are some benefits of this system:

1. Basic needs. No one need worry about basic needs.
2. Social benefits. UBI is given to individuals, not households, so people in difficult marriages would be able to leave but otoh, it would encourage people to live in families or shared accommodation in order to pool resources.
3. Lifestyle, health and relationships. More free time will allow people to do more voluntary work, invest in family relationships, be less stressed, and pursue employment that makes them happy rather than being forced to take jobs they hate.
4. Empower the workforce. Workers will not need to accept bad working conditions as they can now walk away. As an example, I would rather work in a shop than clean a school or hospital. As no one needs to clean a school to keep a roof over their heads, less desirable jobs like this would have to pay more in order to attract employees. Some people with limited employable skills would take these jobs because they pay more than easier employment.
5. The corona effect. After corona we will have proved that working remotely is effective. Fewer employees need to live close to work. This will allow people to move back to once thriving but now dying towns where there is plenty of cheap housing. More housing can be built in sparsely populated areas far from the centres. This will reduce demand in the centres and rents/house prices will go down. Meanwhile in the new areas, they will need new schools, shops and other services to help build up a thriving economy and society. Living will be cheaper.
6. Increased employment opportunities. Shared and part time employment will distribute the available work hours among more people. No one will need to work 10 hours a day so most people will opt to work fewer hours.

Some potential problems and why they're not necessarily founded.

1. Where will the money come from? Other social benefits, including pensions, will be stopped. Most people will still work and be taxed (see below). Increase taxation on carbon footprints for industry and commerce, not individuals. Inheritance tax (this one hurts but it encourages people to spend, it encourages a slower pace of life i.e. not chasing wealth that you'll never spend and in a fairer society it evens out the starting line). Property and land tax. VAT.
2. Why would anyone work? Because most of us want to go out to eat once in while, go on holiday, travel a bit, buy things other than basics, upgrade our lifestyles, pursue hobbies, redecorate, etc... Also, we live in communities where we need to keep up with the social norms be it hosting barbecues or evenings/days out with friends.
Most people want to feel useful, the social aspect of getting out and meeting people, idleness becomes boring after a while.
There will also still be a status attached to contributing to society, a moral aspect that most of us will buy into as we already do.

Notes:
*When I write 'most people' this is just my opinion not a proven statistic.
*Although limited experiments on UBI have been done around the world and it seems that my opinion is largely supported.
*I have not done the maths and I have no idea if this is financially viable.
*I wouldn't even know how to do the financial analysis of this.
*I'm not recommending UBI but rather opening the conversation.
*There are many articles online about UBI, just google it.
*I did google it so please don't send me the articles you find online. Just comment on what you found interesting.