This is what one of the world’s largest experiments in basic income looks like

From Meaghan Tobin and Márvio Dos Anjos / Rest of World: Mumbuca is a digital currency used in Maricà’s basic income program. Residents, with few eligibility requirements, can qualify for a monthly stipend to purchase goods and services using a smart phone or a card. The currency runs on the digital platform E-dinheiro and can only be spent in the city limits. Individuals cannot swap Mumbucas for national currency, but businesses can after a 48-hour waiting period and a 1% fee. Local currencies, which are popular in Brazil, help residents increase personal savings and, with increased stipends during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed informal workers to stay home.

Click here to read the full story on Rest of World.

Issue Areas:

Alternative Forms of Income, Wellbeing Economics

Impact Areas:

Creating New Economic Paradigms

Actors:

Government

Communities Served:

—

Strategies:

Easing Economic Burdens for Individuals, Reallocating Government / Public Financing

Success Factors:

Addressing Underlying Issues, Providing Cash Instead Of Goods/Services, Using Creative Financing

Geographic Region:

South America

Countries:

Brazil

Date:

July 23, 2020

More Resources:

Conversation with Jonathon Freeman

Jonathon Freeman is a founding member of the Native Roots Network, an Indigenous community development organization that, most notably, has curated and organized Our Story: Native Art Exhibitions, advocated for Indigenous cultural revitalization, the protection of Indigenous lands and sacred...

How financial counseling at the pediatrician’s office can help families thrive

From Pien Huang / NPR: In an effort to improve child healthcare, a program at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center matches low-income families with financial coaches when they come in for their child’s appointments. The coaches help them address financial stressors,...

Conversation with Mafah Cornelius Kuta

Mafah Cornelius Kuta is a regenerative farmer and former principal in Cameroon. Mafah’s goal is to create and establish a regenerative agriculture school and regenerative agriculture movement by equipping farmers to regenerate land within culturally relevant and ecologically-appropriate contexts. Mafah...

Conversation with Matt Prewitt

Matthew Prewitt is RadicalxChange Foundation’s president, a writer and blockchain industry advisor, and a former plaintiff’s side antitrust and consumer class action litigator and federal law clerk. Prewitt spoke with Ashley Hopkinson on January 25, 2024. Click here to read the...

Conversation with Dr. Courtney Howard

Dr Courtney Howard is an Emergency Physician in Yellowknife, and is a nationally- and globally-recognized expert on the impacts of climate change on health, and in the broader field of planetary health. As the first female board President of the...

Aging states to college graduates: We’ll pay you to stay

From Jon Marcus / The Hechinger Report: As their workforces age, states across the United States are offering student loan repayment to incentivize college graduates to stick around. Now Maine and Vermont are the first to offer it to those...