Yet basic income is gaining traction in other Western democracies too. The short work week – in reality most French workers work more than 35 hours – is still contested by French employers for making France uncompetitive in the global workplace. Musk admitted last November that "there's a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income due to automation. Economists point to other difficult questions: what is the impact on people's work ethic if they can count on basic income? The French Economic Observatory, an independent research unit at Sciences Po university in Paris, estimated that universal basic income would cost 480 billion euros annually.

Source: The Local January 27, 2017 11:56 UTC