Basic Income: The Superpill for Greater Efficiency?

It is a common saying that ‘you can’t get something for nothing.’ In a sense, however, you sometimes can, because there is probably a considerable amount of waste and inefficiency involved in the production of most manufactured goods and in the provision of most services. And if we could find ways to waste fewer materials and make more effective use of people’s time, then we’d be producing things more ‘efficiently’ and we could, effectively, get something for nothing.

There are, of course, many different ways of improving the efficiency of a particular factory or a particular production process. Changing the layout of a factory, using improved technology and providing better training for workers are just a few possible examples.

Efficiency is a common topic in Economics, of course. Economists like to show how, by organising ourselves more effectively, we can reduce waste and get more out for less put in.

This type of efficiency — in simple terms; getting more out for less put in — is the sort most people will be familiar with and is known as ‘technical efficiency’ or ‘productive efficiency.’

This is the type of efficiency that is often referred to by employers, whether they are manufacturers, service providers or government departments. Again, when efficiency is mentioned in news…