Nobel laureate Angus Deaton yesterday lent support to basic income grants as part of government efforts to mitigate wealth and consumption inequality.
“The government should take care of people with low income and should be pushing basic income grants,” the economist told a forum at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Basic income grants, or guaranteed income, are a government-ensured guarantee that no citizen’s income falls below the level necessary to meet their most basic needs.
Photo: CNA
Advocates say the program is an efficient, effective and equitable solution to poverty that not only promotes individual freedom, but also keeps the beneficial aspects of a market economy in place.
Deaton, a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, said that risk, even stationary risk, cumulates into inequality when shaped by rapid technical progress, globalization and a rapidly changing world.
“The larger the factor of shocks, the riskier the world becomes, the more potential there is for increases in inequality,” he said.
Deaton was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics last year for his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare, with the Economic Sciences Prize Committee saying that his work linking individual choices and aggregate outcomes had helped transform the study of microeconomics, macroeconomics and development economics.
Deaton last year said that there are still 700 million poor people in the world and they are “a constant reproach to all of us.”
Wealth inequality is likely to increase at a much faster pace unless there is some offset from an insurance arrangement under a range of personal and social mechanism that ties people together, Deaton has said.
Deaton has said that climate change and inequality are the two greatest challenges facing the world, adding: “I do worry about a world in which the rich get to write the rules.”
Deaton has also taken a keen interest in Taiwan, calling it “the home of saving” because people at all ages save a lot, just as all ages save little in the US.
He said he is not able to account for the phenomenon after examining housing, bequest and small business ownership needs.
Deaton rejected the link between Taiwan’s excessive savings and Confucianism, adding that South Koreans are also influenced by Confucius, but save less.
NOT ALL GOOD: Analysts warned that other data for last month might be less rosy due to the virus and analysts expect the PMI to contract again next month Chinese factory activity saw surprise growth last month as businesses went back to work following a lengthy shutdown, but analysts said that the economy faces a challenging recovery as external demand has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, while the World Bank said that growth could screech to a halt. China is slowly returning to life after months of tough restrictions aimed at containing the virus, which put millions of people into virtual house arrest and brought economic activity to a near standstill. The strict measures saw a closely watched gauge of manufacturing plunge to its lowest level on record in February,
The output of the global smartphone industry this year is to contract by 7.8 percent on an annual basis as the COVID-19 pandemic ushers in a global recession, Taipei-based market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report on Monday. The global production of smartphones is expected to fall to 1.29 billion units, as the pandemic dampens demand for consumer electronics, leading to a decline in shipments across Europe and North America, TrendForce said. With consumers delaying smartphone purchases and thereby lengthening the device replacement cycle, overall prices would suffer a setback that is expected to negatively affect the profitability of smartphone
ELECTRONICS Lite-On delays sale of unit Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said it would postpone the sale of its solid-state drives (SSD) business to Kioxia Holdings Corp, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Holdings Corp, due to disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the Taiwan-based electronics components supplier struck the deal with the Japanese firm, agreeing to sell the unit for US$165 million. Citing unfinished integration work due to the pandemic, Lite-On has deferred today’s closing date until further notice, adding that the delay would not have a negative effect on the unit’s operations. AUTO PARTS Hiroca approves dividend Automotive interior parts supplier Hiroca
ALL ABOUT STRATEGY: The company is optimistic, saying that its gross margin should increase year-on-year, but it is scaling back on its plans to expand capacity Quang Viet Enterprise Co (QVE, 廣越), which makes down jackets and garments for sportswear and outdoor brands including Adidas AG, yesterday said that revenue might drop 5 to 10 percent annually this year as some customers trimmed orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That would mark its first revenue decline since 2016. Quang Viet posted record-high revenue of NT$16.26 billion (US$537.45 million) last year, up 22 percent from 2018. Down jackets made up 40 percent of it revenue last year. North Face Inc and Patagonia Inc are this year likely to reduce orders by 20 to 30 percent from a
RSS