An economist warns that "advances in technology and automation are set to wipe out up to half of all jobs in the developed world."
A small bit from the article:
RBS economists have urged investors to sell everything except high-quality bonds, warning of a “fairly cataclysmic year ahead.”
If that isn't a call for a national, base wage to all citizens, I don't know what is.
Also reason why all corporations should pay a minimum tax and not be able to deduct their way out of paying any taxes or, worse, get a rebate or, worse yet, offshore profits or be able to.
Another good, related article:
There will be chaos: Big Oil's collapse and the birth of a new world order
The current rout in oil prices has obvious implications for the giant oil firms and all the ancillary businesses — equipment suppliers, drill-rig operators, shipping companies, caterers, and so on — that depend on them for their existence. It also threatens a profound shift in the geopolitical fortunes of the major energy-producing countries. Many of them, including Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Venezuela, are already experiencing economic and political turmoil as a result. (Think of this, for instance, as a boon for the terrorist group Boko Haram as Nigeria shudders under the weight of those falling prices.) The longer such price levels persist, the more devastating the consequences are likely to be.
If anything like or near these "worst case scenarios" take place, governments and corporations the world over may HAVE to give and require a minimum payout to their citizens, just to keep the economic world spinning.
Here's a perfect example and it's from a current article.
Chinese factory replaces 90% of humans
with robots
A nation of more than 1.4 billion people and the companies, the corporations replaced, as the headline shows, the vast majority of the employees with machines.
If corporations and nations don't give a minimum payout to their citizens, who will be able to buy the products that keep this whole merry go round turning?