Permanent basic income: a possible utopia

Abstract

The more people get aware of the deep gap of inequality and some others contemporary problems, the more empirical tests, projects and the discussion on basic income programs get strengthened. With the disruption of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic of COVID-19, in Brazil as in other countries, a short-term program of emergency assistance was adopted (Law 13.982/2020). This fact stimulates the debate on basic income program in permanent basis, as a public policy. We exam briefly the origins and different versions of basic income proposals along modern history, we discuss the three myths that grew around basic income programs: that they represent a disincentive to work, that it is impossible to finance these programs, and that red tape and political veto would preempt them. We present empirical evidence that contradicts such myths, and conclude that the country has financial resources and institutions to support basic income to every Brazilian in vulnerability conditions.