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 Allison Duettmann

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com,...

Evanston has an affordability problem – community land trusts can help

From Duncan Agnew / Evanston RoundTable: Through a land trust, Community Partners in Affordable Housing sells homes to buyers at a fixed cost while maintaining ownership of the land they’re built on, allowing those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to...

Conversation with Alexandra Goossens-Ishii

Alexandra Goossens-Ishii works as Programme Coordinator for environment, climate change & biodiversity for Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a community-based Buddhist organization that promotes peace, culture and education. Her work focuses on the UN processes related to the environment, climate change...

Conversation with Gus Hagelberg

Gus Hagelberg is a native of California and has lived in Southern Germany for over 30 years with his wife and three children. Gus studied political science in both California and Tübingen, Germany where he earned his Master’s Degree. He...

Conversation with Ignacio Saiz

Ignacio Saiz is an independent consultant and advisor on issues of human rights and economic justice. He previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights, an international NGO that works for a rights-based economy, and...

Conversation with Philip Rosedale

Philip Rosedale is a co-founder and advisor of High Fidelity, a company devoted to exploring the future of next-generation shared virtual reality. Prior to High Fidelity, Rosedale created the virtual civilization Second Life and has also worked on experiments in...