A couple counting money. Universal basic income lets people bridge periods out of work or in bad jobs so they can invest in their own skills and re-enter the workforce at a higher level. Getty Images
A couple counting money. Universal basic income lets people bridge periods out of work or in bad jobs so they can invest in their own skills and re-enter the workforce at a higher level. Getty Images
A couple counting money. Universal basic income lets people bridge periods out of work or in bad jobs so they can invest in their own skills and re-enter the workforce at a higher level. Getty Images
It might feel like 10 years, rather than 10 months ago, but cast your mind back to January of this year and the campaign message from the White House was fairly straightforward: the economy is in great shape, the markets are booming, Donald Trump is the right man to carry America forward.
Now, just two days before the presidential election, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates once more, that message rings hollow. In the absence of renewed financial aid, most Americans are far more worried about paying household bills than managing stock portfolios.
Ironically, Covid-19 aside, market analysts are sanguine about whatever eventual election outcome presents itself. Another four years of Mr Trump could theoretically bring further tax cuts and maybe more deregulation; while even the Wall Street Journal has warmed to the idea of a moderate Joe Biden presidency, bringing stability and spending to the economy, even if coupled with higher taxes for the nation's wealthiest.
The 2020 US presidential election has certainly had some memorable moments. AFP
Whichever candidate takes up office on January 20, the far more pressing issue is how to support the millions of Americans who have fallen through the widening cracks in the US economy.
Frustration at the impasse on Capitol Hill over a stimulus package is clear. Almost 130,000 people liked a recent Tweet by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, which read: "Imagine having the power to ease the suffering of millions and failing to use it."
So much is at stake in these talks for millions of struggling Americans in the short term; yet there is also increasing consensus that it’s time for more radical, longer-term solutions.
Even before the pandemic, an estimated 63 per cent of America’s households were unable to cut a $500 cheque. Record employment numbers masked record income inequality, and close to half the US workforce was employed in jobs with a mean annual pay of under $20,000 a year.
Among the proposals in the current conversation around stimulus is something Mr Yang championed in his own presidential campaign, the notion of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). Senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act calls for $2,000 per month payments to most US residents during the pandemic and beyond.
At first glance, this feels utterly alien to America, a country built on go-getting capitalism, with a historic tolerance of work with neither contracts nor benefits. But a Hill-HarrisX poll in August revealed that 55 per cent of registered voters support the idea.
Michael Tubbs, the 30-year-old mayor of Stockton, California, has taken this theoretical support a step further. His city is extending a pioneering experiment with UBI: 125 residents are getting $500 a month in cash with no strings attached.
Mr Tubbs first ran for City Council office four years ago, when the then-bankrupt Stockton was, in his words, “the most miserable city". It is, he told me, “ground zero” for American life. “We are the most diverse city in this country, but we also have some real structural challenges.”
Michael Tubbs, the mayor of Stockton, California has been successful in implementing a UBI programme. AFP
Stockton’s grim statistics, Mr Tubbs said, gave him the courage to try to do things differently, and it seems to be working. “We saw in 2018 and 2019, a 40 per cent reduction in homicides. We now give scholarships to every student who graduates from the largest school district, we have the Stockton Scholars Programme. We are piloting basic income. We are now the second most fiscally healthy city,” he added.
The Stockton experiment highlights the appeal of UBI for many Americans. Crucially, it’s about income, rather than longer-term wealth; stability as a platform for betterment.
“Research suggests that kids who have more money, whose parents aren't economically anxious, who grew up in more stable environments, not surprisingly, do better in school,” Tubbs said. “It's not because the kids are inherently smarter or inherently more hard-working, it is because those kids are in the more stable environment.”
Mr Tubbs believes that the federal government must make guaranteed income a long-term policy. “The sum total of our pandemic response has been one-time stimulus cheques and then unemployment insurance, which was a bold, radical idea – in 1935,” he said. “We have to have a social safety net that's reflective of 2020 realities.”
The 2020 realities may, hopefully at least, be unique and short-lived. But the notion that UBI or a living wage could help solve some of America’s most stubborn problems is gaining credibility. Perhaps it’s time for the next occupant of the White House to consider it.
Julia Chatterley anchors the CNN International show, First Move, which airs Monday-Friday at 6pm
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Brief scores:
Southampton 2
Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
High profile Al Shabab attacks
2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah 5.10pm: Continous 5.45pm: Raging Torrent 6.20pm: West Acre 7pm: Flood Zone 7.40pm: Straight No Chaser 8.15pm: Romantic Warrior 8.50pm: Calandogan 9.30pm: Forever Young
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
