The refugee crisis is making headlines around the world
every day. Hundreds of millions of people are trying to move, as they see no
hope where they are.
There are two parts to the problem: economic difficulties
and lack of security.
The security problem in places like Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan is a huge issue that needs to be tackled, but we don’t need to wait
for the security situation to improve to address the economic dimension. We can
act now.
Rich countries are not ready to take in large numbers of
immigrants. For example, at most 2% of the 12 million displaced people in Syria
are likely to be granted asylum in Europe. We need to first help people where
they are.
World GDP is around $85 trillion. World population is around
7.2 billion. So per capita income across the world is around $11,800.
Poverty studies and official development goals often count
the number of people living on less than $1 or $2 per day. Let’s be generous
and pick the larger number: $2 per day. I propose that we adopt a “humanity
income” for everyone on the planet. It would cost just $730 per year per
person, 6.2% of world GDP.
A 6% global solidarity tax may be a difficult sell, so let’s
take advantage of the current state of deflation across much of the world.
Instead of a 6% tax on global income, let’s just “monetize” (ie. create/print
money) for this amount. Basically a giant step of global “quantitative easing”.
Quantitative easing for the global poor would be structured differently
from the recent implementation in the developed world: rather than funding the
banks, funding the people directly. We would set up a global system based on
mobile devices whereby everyone alive on the planet would receive $2 per day
from the central banks of the world.
Given high unemployment and low capacity utilization
worldwide, a 6% per year monetary injection distributed equally to all human
beings is likely not to make a big impact on world inflation. If it does, all
the better – as we would battle deflation, raise capacity utilization and lower
unemployment worldwide.
To make administration simple and cheap, we would have no
qualifications, no means tests – all human beings would get it without
question. Those who feel they don’t need it would be able to give it back to
someone they choose in a poor country.
Given where the world stands in mobile technology and
financial management, a $2 per day “humanity income” is a real possibility. I
say let’s go for it!
