Why are we still working?Do you like your work? Or, if you could, would you rather spend some of your time differently? Many will probably answer the second question with a yes. Although we all go to work happily together, the intrinsic value of the things we do there is often unclear. Yet we do not question the necessity of that work. Lord Robert Skidelsky does. Skidelsky is not only an emeritus professor of economics at the University of Warwick and a member of the House of Lords, but is best known as John Maynard Keynes's great biographer. One of the spearheads in Keynes's work was that he thought creatively about work; Skidelsky approaches the discussion about work and leisure with a similar view. Now that most of our productivity growth here measured in standard economic terms does not come from more, but from increasingly smarter labour, there is room for a more fundamental discussion about the necessity of work, at individual and social level. Economy training would therefore do well to open up the history books. What would they encounter about work? We give the floor to Lord Robert Skidelsky.

A basic income is a periodically distributed and freely disposable amount for every citizen, sufficient to live on a full-fledged basis, without any obligation, irrespective of the income, wealth or composition of the household. The Brazilian city of Maricá provides a quarter of its inhabitants since the end of last year with a #basisinkomen - Yes. This makes the city the first in Latin America. The basic income, called the bolsa mumbuca, is financed from royalties from an oil field located off the coast of the city. This reports Trouw. Some forty thousand inhabitants of Maricá are eligible for the contribution.Fictional currencyThe Brazilians who receive the basic income receive this in the so-called mumbaca, a fictional currency. The amount is paid on a card or an app, which can only be paid in Maricá. More than three thousand shops participate in this, which can also benefit from it in this way. The Optimist

Why are we still working? Brazil is testing with basic income.