South Korea’s Universal Basic Income Experiment to Boost the Economy | WSJ
Economic Development VideoSummary
This video examines a recent trial of Universal Basic Income (UBI) in the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea. Through Gyeonggi pay, nearly 200,000 people in the Province receive roughly $220 every three months; the only stipulation is that this money must be spent in the local area on small businesses. The introduction of Gyeonggi pay is touted as a response to the Province’s job losses in the face of ever-increasing automation of key industries. The experiment is working in some ways with small business sales up by an average by 45 percent but questions have been raised about privacy concerns, as purchases made using the income are tracked. Watch the video to find out more about how this UBI experiment is faring, as well as the impact it will have on South Korea at large. As Lee Jae Myung, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province and mastermind behind the scheme, seeks to use UBI as a major platform of his South Korean presidency bid in the next election.