The macroeconomic viability of a basic income for all: a structural challenge from the developing world

This document is a reaction against the scarcity of macroeconomic analyses of the Basic Income idea, especially when concerned with developing countries. This scarcity is largely to blame for the stalemate of contemporary Basic Income proposals, which are failing to go beyond rhetoric and become real alternatives. Hence, through a historical and analytical approach, this paper unfolds the macroeconomic framework that (explicitly or implicitly) has supported the thinking of the leading basic income supporters, to then challenge it from a structuralist perspective. Indeed, it argues that a nationwide basic income proposal, in a developing country, might have perverse outcomes if it is not rightly matched by policies to remove the structural bottlenecks that tighten aggregate supply and curb investment. The document concludes by proposing an outline of a revamped path of research within the Basic Income’s larger debates.