Post
Topic
Board Politics & Society
Re: Switzerland to vote on $2,800 monthly ‘basic income’ for adults
by
compro01
on 10/12/2013, 18:40:15 UTC
I have already covered this. Even if they tax their citizens 100%, the money which is required for the handouts ($ 188 b) can't be raised.

How do you figure that?  As of 2013, Switzerland's GDP is approximately $646 billion US Dollars.

The $188B for the "handout" (which assumes everyone in the country gets the full amount, not just supplementing up to at least that level) would be 25.6% of that GDP.

That, in addition to their current budget (which would undoubtedly shrink as they could replace many existing assistance programs with the basic income), would put their taxation as a percentage of GDP about on par with Denmark and Sweden.  It would put them in competition for highest taxes in the world, but it's not impossible.