This proposal is not the same as the "universal" incomes tried in some western countries where everyone, regardless of income or economic situation, recieves X amount each month.
This would be targeted to around 9 million people and linked to the cost of the basic basket of food. Given the amount of hungry people in this country it is trying to give relief to the most basic necessity of life.
Here is a good
explainer.
I do actually believe that, conceptually, this could be a more efficient way of social spending for Argentina to ensure a universal safety net that is less prone to exploitation by political parties and interests, without intermediaries driving up costs or exploiting people for political gain.
What I don't like however is that this proposal does not come with conditions to be actively seeking and accepting employment
if able to do so upon completion of the mandatory educational prerequisite, and also the fact that it covers those in the informal sector,
without a plan to formalize them or even ask any questions (in order to get the accounts in order by making all those kiosko-owners and employees en-negro out there contribute in some small way to cover their share of the cost of such a scheme...) and neither is it supported by the government tightening its own belt - instead they just keep on giving themselves pay rises and private jet charters - and worse still, it is not supported by labour reforms to stimulate formal employment, investment and in turn, tax revenues to make it a
sustainable project in the long run that actually reduces its cost burden by enabling recipients to move on up and away from dependence on the state and towards contribution to the state.
