Conclusion

“Basic income is not a utopia; it's a practical business plan for the next step of the human journey.” Jeremy Rifkin, Economist

Until very recently, basic income was considered by most to be a radical concept only embraced by idealists. But by 2020, the notion had made its way from the economic and political fringes to the main stage. The fresh enthusiasm for basic income comes not from a place of utopianism, but rather from a place of pain. While our global economy continues to grow year-on-year, across the world, in poor and wealthy countries alike, millions of people struggle to pay for basic needs and suffer from anxiety and insecurity. The way we have traditionally created growth – through issuance of interest-bearing fiat currency – has institutionalized a system of inequality where wealth does not trickle down.

Politicians, economists and citizens alike realize that existing wealth creation and distribution paradigms that constitute our modern economy don’t – and won’t – work for the majority of people in the future. There is also a growing recognition that economic insecurity for some means a less resilient, less stable economy for all, as evidenced by our modern economic crises. As a result, “trickle-up” economics – our tongue-in-cheek way of categorizing financial policies that push liquidity directly into the hands of people – is at last being taken seriously.

This paradigm shift presents new opportunities to explore different approaches and incentive systems to create more prosperity for everyone, and to prepare us for a better future. If you agree that greater prosperity for all and inequality reduction is a north star that we must aim for, then we hope you agree that what brought us to where we are today will not take us where we need to be.

With the emergence of distributed blockchain technologies, we can advance and build people-powered, bottom-up economies that focus on encouraging growth at the base of the pyramid, for ourselves and for one another. We believe that a people-powered distributed global basic income economy can and will expedite this transformation. With your support, belief and action, GoodDollar’s people-powered decentralized basic income economy can – and should – change the world for the better.

We welcome all feedback and ideas on how to improve this framework for advancing global basic income and building a more equitable world for all.