Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an income support policy under which all individuals receive a regular unconditional cash payment from the government, regardless of employment status or income level. In other words, every adult citizen (and sometimes children, at a lesser amount) is granted a basic stipend periodically, with no means test or work requirement attached.
Neoliberal economics began when a group of economists (Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, Frank Knight) met at the Swiss resort of Mont Pèlerin to draft what they hoped would become the dominant economic model. Their model was inspired by the pro-market writings of classical economic liberals such as Adam Smith (1723-1790) and David Ricardo (1772-1823).
One of the things about the shemozzle of the Trump regime which makes me laugh, is some insular muppets who probably don’t have passports and only vaguely know where Europe is, have been asking: “Has the Democratic Party shifted too far to the left?” Compared to most other western democracies, the Democratic Party would be considered to be right wing, while the Republican Party are now mostly far right, supporting as they do, a half-witted malevolent oligarchy.
After the Liberal Party’s crushing defeat in the weekend’s federal election, it wasn’t going to be long before the recriminations started. However, it is probably useful to go back to the election result to see how extraordinary it was. It is the first time since World War 2 that a first term Australian federal government has had a swing towards it rather than away from it.
I have written several pieces about the Liberal Party branches being taken over by the religious in most of the Australian states. It seems to have started in Victoria1,2, and quickly spread to other states with Western Australia2,3, Queensland2 and South Australia4,5 having fallen to the religious. The only holdouts seem to be Tasmania6 and New South Wales7.
It is a beautiful, cool, sunny, Saturday morning in Canberra, and my partner and I just walked the few hundred metres to the local school hall to vote in the federal election, both for the House of Representatives and for half of the Senate. Federal and state elections are always held on Saturdays in Australia and voting is compulsory.
When I first heard that there was to be a shadow cabinet reshuffle from the leader of the Liberal Party, Peter Dutton, I was not particularly interested given that most of the shadow cabinet are inept or corrupt.
The problem with the US political system is that every four years they elect a president whose power is almost unlimited. Now the US Supreme Court has granted presidents immunity from prosecution for criminal acts committed while in office. This not only gives Donald Trump a free pass for his past crimes, but sets a dangerous precedent for all future presidents. Before Trump, no one had even argued that presidents are absolutely immune from criminal liability after they leave office.