Religion & Liberty Online

Acton Institute proclaims the failure of universal basic income to French speakers

The Acton Institute is helping popularize a left-leaning professor’s stark criticism of the universal basic income among the world’s 275-million Francophones. A new French language translation of “Marx vs. the universal basic income” recounts the findings of Ive Marx, a supporter of income redistribution.

Despite his ideological inclinations, Marx ran the data and concluded that the UBI would actually harm the poor:

Marx et une équipe de chercheurs ont testé les effets de l’introduction d’un revenu universel aux Pays-Bas. Leur modèle partait de l’hypothèse que le gouvernement donnerait à chaque adulte de moins de 65 ans un revenu mensuel de 700 euros et 165 euros par mois aux mineurs. Le coût de ce programme, 94 millions d’euros, devrait être financé par la combinaison d’une augmentation des impôts et d’une réductions des services publics.

Marx a déclaré qu’un revenu universel réduirait l’inégalité des revenus, mais qu’il augmenterait la pauvreté de 3%.

The subject matter is particularly timely, as Pope Francis endorsed the concept of a UBI on Easter Sunday, a handful of UBI pilot programs are underway globally, and Spain is taking steps to implement a universal basic income in response to the global economic downturn caused by coronavirus lockdown orders.

You can read the full translation, performed by Etienne Chaumeton, here. You can read more about the Acton Institute’s global outreach to French speakers here.

(Photo credit: Public domain.)

Rev. Ben Johnson

Rev. Ben Johnson (@therightswriter) is an Eastern Orthodox priest and served as Executive Editor of the Acton Institute (2016-2021), editing Religion & Liberty, the Powerblog, and its transatlantic website. He has extensively researched the Alt-Right. Previously, he worked for LifeSiteNews and FrontPageMag.com, where he wrote three books including Party of Defeat (with David Horowitz, 2008). His work has appeared at DailyWire.com, National Review, The American Spectator, The Guardian, Daily Caller, National Catholic Register, Spectator USA, FEE Online, RealClear Policy, The Blaze, The Stream, American Greatness, Aleteia, Providence Magazine, Charisma, Jewish World Review, Human Events, Intellectual Takeout, CatholicVote.org, Issues & Insights, The Conservative, Rare.us, and The American Orthodox Institute. His personal websites are therightswriter.com and RevBenJohnson.com. His views are his own.