Bloomberg) -- It’s hard to say ‘no’ to something for nothing.

A village in Switzerland has decided to go ahead with an experiment on basic income, with a payout of 2,500 francs ($2,570) per month. The next step is to raise money to finance the plan via crowdfunding.

More than 50 percent of the inhabitants of Rheinau, close to the German border, signed up for the project, according to the organizers website. At least half the 1,300 inhabitants needed to say ‘yes,’ and the count stood at 692 on Monday. The submitted ballots also still have to be checked against government data to ensure eligibility.

The decision comes two years after a proposal for a nationwide unconditional state stipend failed to pass in a national vote.

Rheinau, on the banks of the river Rhine an hour by train from the banking hub of Zurich, was selected by filmmaker Rebecca Panian for the basic income trial. She says she became fascinated by the notion during the national debate before up the 2016 vote, decided to select a village as a guinea pig, and make a documentary.

Earnings and social benefits would count against the payment, which will have to be raised from private sources rather than the government.

Given the cost of living in Switzerland, the sum of 2,500 francs isn’t very large. An entry-level grocery store cashier in the city of Basel working 42 hours per week is entitled to about 3,500 francs a month.

While the idea of paying people money -- no strings attached -- has been around for more than a century, it has gained some traction in recent years due to concerns in major economies about rising inequality and jobs losses due to automation.

Finland introduced a pilot project to examine the benefits of a universal basic income, while it’s also on the agenda of Italy’s populist government.

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“An entry-level grocery store cashier in the city of Basel working 42 hours per week is entitled to about 3,500 francs a month.”

Curious choice of words.

Ok, I've got a pair of bachelor's degrees and a lifetime of business experience, but having read that article, I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

Private funded? Crowd sourced? Earnings count against the stipend? Huh???

What are all these "experiments" designed to test?

If the question is whether people will enjoy having more money vs less, I can already give you the answer.

If the question is whether people like receiving free money, I can end the mystery there as well.

What exactly is the purpose of these experiments?

quote:

Earnings and social benefits would count against the payment, which will have to be raised from private sources rather than the government.

So it's like private charity, but administered by the local government? Even assuming plenty of private funding: Is the .gov the lowest cost, most efficient administrator of charity? Probably not. I would rather give money to my local St. Vincent DePaul society which has 0 overhead and 100% of your donation actually goes to people in need.

I remember when Starbucks experimented with a "pay whatever you want" scheme at a couple of their stores. After about a year, they closed those stores.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
What are all these "experiments" designed to test?
What exactly is the purpose of these experiments?

You already know the answer. It is designed to collect "data" to "prove" that it "works" ... in order to get people to vote for it on a wider (and not privately funded) basis.
Socialism has to be sneaky or people wouldn't be fooled.

This caught my eye because “Switzerland” is derived from an old Holy Roman Empire term which meant “small but expensive.”

I wonder how one could live on 2500 CHF a month with the cost of living as it is.

The "experiment" may be on the other end of the equation. How many people are exited to give free money to others, and for how long a period of time? Forever?

If it gets off of the ground, I don't think it will fly very far on it's own.

[sarcasm] They will be able to fix it with socialism. [sarcasm]

quote:

Earnings and social benefits would count against the payment, which will have to be raised from private sources rather than the government.

Let me get this straight. Someone who works and has money will get none if any of the free money and people who dont have an income will get the full amount? How is this any different than the current welfare system?

If the whole world did this and the predictable occurred, which other galaxy would crowd fund the population of this planet? Or are we sitting on a mountain of vibranium?

quote:

What exactly is the purpose of these experiments?

To see if math works...?

$0 - any wage = $0.

Yep, still works.

quote:

If it gets off of the ground, I don't think it will fly very far on it's own.

Nope, reality will set in soon enough and the benefactors will get bored and disillusioned with the whole game.

I thought Switzerland was smarter than that!

If you guys don’t mind I will be starting a thread where you guys can send me a guaranteed income from your income that you derive from actual work. By giving me a guaranteed income I can then patronize your various business so you can make enough money to give back to me.

Everybody cool with this? Good.

I could get behind universal basic income... on the condition that it be enacted as part of a Constitutional amendment that bans any other form of government welfare.

It would cost a hell of a lot less than what we have now.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

I remember when Starbucks experimented with a "pay whatever you want" scheme at a couple of their stores. After about a year, they closed those stores.

That was Panera Bread.

quote:

The next step is to raise money to finance the plan via crowdfunding.

Aye, there's the rub.

Our liberals resort to crowdfunding with guns (taxation backed by police powers) which is less dicey but far less ethical.

Wo meine freie Scheiße?

2500 bucks means nothing, that covers rent, health care and food, thats it.

3500 "minimum wage" for a cashier is what they make after a 3 year apprenticeship. There's no legal minimum wage, but unions and interest groups negotiated a minimum wage with the interest groups of the businesses.

3500 is also a whole lot at all.

Its an interesting experiment that's going to proof on a small scale that it's not gonna work. Actually, it's very swiss. It was discussed and decided to go for the test and we'll see how it goes.

also: anyone accepting 2500.- of "free money" is most likely not eligible for any other kind of social support anymore.