To what extent do the wealthy pay for unemployment ?

• Joanne Anderson

My wondering relates to Elon Musk's proposal of basic universal income; the potential impact of this on labour markets and the benefit of this as opposed to social security ( the doll etc) which have negative consequences like people having more children to benefit from government grants.

• Joanne Anderson

What sort of universal basic income has he suggested? I think it could be different in different regions even just within the same country? I feel like government incentives might have swayed those who are unsure about having children to at least a child, but it might not have changed the mind of those who are more determined. I guess it is difficult to make things universal and therefore, there is a need to be aware of weakness and strengths of one's nation.

• Tammy Cheng

The correlation between wage levels and the immigration policies of developed countries is a compelling subject. This analysis supports the notion that economic policies are inherently political, presenting significant challenges in persuading developed nations and their citizens to alter the existing paradigm. While the principle of providing equal opportunities may be perceived as just, it is often constrained by immigration policies designed to preserve the advantageous positions of those in wealthier nations.

I dare not imagine what a world where the free market, unrestrained by regulations would look like in terms of workers' value. Would it equalize the playing field ?

• Robin Ford Coron

A great question. Would love to unpack what might happen.

• Joanne Anderson

I have a new insight to the fact that rich people in countries with infrastructure make the country poor rather than the poor people in the same country due to their lack of productivity (from the book”Things they don’t tell you about capitalism”). In my personal experience I was not able to secure a position in teaching overseas to certain countries due to the nature of my qualifications not actively stating degree but once my qualifications were taken into account, there was no other alternative but to give it that status of being a degree. This makes me wonder what South Africa is doing about our wages as we have immigrants/expats from places such as Zimbabwe whose qualifications are just as if not better than South Africans yet they, in quite a few cases, are exploited and are not paid even the minimum wage but take the post as they have to put food on the table. Many people may be taking jobs that do not provide a good wage and sometimes not even the minimum wage, but they have little choice due to immediate living costs. What can we do as a society to see that fair wage is distributed when we are caught in a continuous downward spiral of lack?

• Nina Wakefield

How can a country design its immigration policy to ensure national and global equity?
@Cat Ho, can we learn more about the Free Market and examples of approaches taken by some developing countries?

• Tammy Cheng

I wonder whether the global equity is ever achievable, although I agree the national equity should be promoted and cooperation between the countries developed, taken so many differences in cultures and the level of economic development it is interesting to know how the international equity can be achieved - what might be a common denominator for this?

• Kristina Pilgueva

I guess my question is how do we judge How free a country's market is? put aside labour market.

• Tammy Cheng