Finland to scrap Universal Basic Income scheme after two-year trial

I’ll say this for the Finns. They are tough. Their entire country is frozen for 7-8 months of the year. They endure sunless winters. They fought the Russians to a standstill despite being vastly outnumbered in the Winter War of 1939-1940. On the whole Finland has some serious bragging rights.

It is also held up as a prime example of “Nordic socialism.” (It should be noted that this type of “socialism” is driven to a large degree by local taxation and that each of the Nordic states is small with only one real population center and a generally culturally homogenous population. Basically they are like Minnesota.)

But one “socialist” program that has been called for by video game bingers and basement denizens of various sorts in this country of late has died, universal basic income. And if they can’t make it work in Finland you know it sure as heck isn’t going to work pretty much anywhere else. Finland was the ideal case.

(From Sky News)

Under a full roll-out of UBI, all citizens – not just those looking for a job – would have been guaranteed the same monthly payment.

Its backers say it would help tackle poverty and inequality as people would not have to worry about making ends meet – and it would encourage the unemployed to find work.

But the government has rejected a request from Kela for additional funding to expand the trial to encompass a selection of people currently in work, and has decided to cancel the project once the trial ends in January 2019.

Miska Simanainen, a researcher at Kela, told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that the government would now pursue changes that would “take the system further away from a basic income”.

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