Book Tip No. 20 (2017): Thomas Straubhaar: Radically Fair. How the Unconditional Basic Income Revolutionizes the Welfare State.
Hamburg 2017.
When Thomas Straubhaar turns to such a fundamental topic as the unconditional basic income, one can look forward to his considerations. Demographic (over-) aging processes, digitization and robotization of working life and the associated radical changes in the world of work, individualized life plans beyond classic family models and changed attitudes towards work and leisure – these are, according to Straubhaar, the challenges of the welfare state. He sees the unconditional basic income, combined with a negative income tax and a “flat tax” on all types of income, as a more or less inevitable and alternative-free solution. He shows the feasibility, he makes convincing sample calculations, and he deals with the counterarguments. A very understandable plea, which also means that the administration of social systems as well as the administration of our tax system is radically simplified. Therefore, the greatest resistance is to be expected here. HCR.