They'll Pay You to Live in Switzerland!

Like the rest of the rich world, Switzerland is currently experiencing rising inequality, and rising prices for key items like real estate. And since Switzerland has a very vibrant referendum system, they're getting ready to vote on a proposal to give everyone a basic income of $2,800 a month. This would enable a married couple to earn $67,200 a year without working.

That minimum amounts to less than half of Switzerland's per-capita income of $80,000. But it's still a whole lot of money; the U.S. equivalent would be mailing every adult here a check for $2,000 a month. The economic effects, positive and negative, would probably be far-reaching, as Annie Lowrey reports in the New York Times: