
Proponents of UBI argue that it will reduce or eliminate poverty by providing everyone with a basic income to cover housing and food.

In the Alaska Permanent Fund each individual and family receives a monthly sum that is funded by dividends from the state’s oil revenues. The longest running UBI system in the world is the Alaska Permanent Fund in the U.S. Several countries, including Finland, India and Brazil, have experimented with a UBI system but have not implemented a permanent program. The funding for Universal Basic Income comes from taxation and government owned entities including income from endowments, real estate and natural resources. Proponents argue that the jobs and tax revenue created by the companies eventually offset the cost of any awarded incentives.ĭo you support a universal basic income program?Ī Universal Basic Income program is social security program where all citizens of a country receive a regular, unconditional sum of money from the government. The European Union has strict laws which prevent member cities from bidding against each other with state aid (tax incentives) in an effort to lure private companies. Opponents argue that governments should spend the tax revenue on public projects instead and that the federal government should pass laws banning tax incentives. For the Arlington, VA headquarters the city and state governments gave Amazon $500 million in tax breaks. For the New York City headquarters the city and state governments gave Amazon $2.8 billion in tax credits and construction grants. More than 200 cities applied and offered Amazon millions of dollars in economic incentives and tax breaks. Amazon said the company could invest over $5 billion and the offices would create up to 50,000 high paying jobs. The announcement came a year after the company announced it would accept proposals from any North American city who wanted to host the headquarters. In November 2018 the online e-commerce company Amazon announced it would be building a second headquarters in New York City and Arlington, VA.

Should cities be allowed to offer private companies economic incentives to relocate?
