瑞士公投否决基本收入提议

The Swiss have voted decisively against state-provided unconditional “basic incomes” in a setback for a growing international lobby that argues such radical schemes are needed to overhaul inefficient welfare systems.

瑞士人在全民公投中高票否决由国家提供无条件“基本收入”的建议，这对一个声音越来越响亮的国际游说阵营是一个挫折；这个阵营主张，当今社会需要用这样的激进计划来改革效率低下的福利制度。

Just 23 per cent in a referendum on Sunday favoured the idea of minimum incomes, regardless of the recipients’ wealth or whether they worked.

在周日举行的全民公投中，仅23%的瑞士人赞成这种保障最低收入（不论接收者的财富多少，也不论他们是否工作）的想法。

Supporters said the vote was stronger than they had expected, however. “This is a beginning,” said Che Wagner, campaign spokesman. Winning the backing of nearly one in four voters was “absolutely great . . . Especially, young voters want the discussion to continue”.

不过，支持者们表示，投票结果仍超过他们的预期。“这是一个开端，”提倡基本收入运动的发言人切•瓦格纳(Che Wagner)表示。获得近四分之一选民的支持“绝对很棒……尤其是年轻选民希望相关讨论继续进行”。

The goal of the campaign had been to “educate” People in Switzerland and elsewhere about basic incomes, said Karl Widerquist, co-chairman of the Basic Income Earth Network. “In terms of getting it on the agenda, it is a great success.”

基本收入地球网络(Basic Income Earth Network)的联合主席卡尔•怀德克斯特(Karl Widerquist)表示，这个宣传活动的目标是“教育”瑞士乃至其他国家的人们关于基本收入的理念。“就把这件事提上议事日程而言，这是一个巨大的成功。”

Sunday’s referendum was closely watched internationally. As one of the world’s most affluent economies, Switzerland could arguably have afforded unconditional basic incomes more easily than other countries. The country requires just 100,000 signatures for an idea to be put to a referendum.

周日的瑞士公投在国际间受到密切关注。作为世界上最富裕的经济体之一，瑞士可以说比其他国家更有能力提供无条件基本收入。在这个国家，只需要获得10万签名就能让一个想法付诸全民公投。

However, Swiss employment rates are high — and the strong franc rather than technological change is seen as the bigger threat to local jobs. “People didn’t see a need for such a radical, dramatic experiment,” said Daniel Kalt, chief economist in Switzerland at UBS.

然而，瑞士的就业率很高，而且，比起技术变革，强劲的瑞郎被视为当地就业面临的更大威胁。“人们看不出这样一个激进的、剧烈的实验有什么必要，”瑞银(UBS)的瑞士首席经济学家丹尼尔•卡尔特(Daniel Kalt)表示。

The Swiss government strongly opposed the idea — on cost as well as practical grounds. It estimated a basic income of SFr2,500 ($2,560) per adult a month would have cost three times as much as current annual federal government spending of SFr67bn a year.

瑞士政府强烈反对这个想法——基于成本以及现实理由。其估计，向每个成年人每月发放2500瑞郎（合2560美元）的基本收入，成本将是目前联邦政府年度支出（670亿瑞郎）的三倍。

Even then, it would not have replaced all existing social services, such as healthcare for the elderly.

即便如此，基本收入也不会取代所有现有的社会服务，如面向老年人的医疗保障。

Once the preserve of radical economists, the idea of governments providing basic incomes has moved into the political mainstream in recent years. Backers argue it could help manage the social disruption caused by rapid technological change, allow people to pursue what they really want to do, and get rid of the complexity of existing benefit systems.

由政府提供基本收入的想法一度仅限于激进经济学家的理论范畴，但近年已进入政治主流。支持者提出，它可能有助于管理快速技术变革所引起的社会混乱，让人们去追求他们真正想做的事，同时一举扫除现有福利制度的复杂性。

In Brazil, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands and India, local and national governments are experimenting with the idea of introducing some form of basic income.

在巴西、加拿大、芬兰、荷兰和印度，地方和中央政府都在试验某种形式的基本收入。

However, the idea also attracts criticism, with opponents arguing recipients would lose the motivation to work.

然而，这个想法也招致批评，反对者辩称，基本收入将让接收者失去工作动力。