In the movie 'The Third Man', Harry Lime, as played by Orson Wells, famously argued that after centuries of peace and harmony, all Switzerland had to show for it was the cuckoo clock. However, in the realm of thinking around Universal Basic Income, Switzerland is showing itself to possess a great deal of innovation as a laboratory for field study.

Previous issues of my blog have looked at the arguments in favour of bringing in a form of Universal Basic Income for the benefit of a populace. However, aside from the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, and a few pilot studies, many of which have been culled prematurely, there has been a lack of realistic studies on the ground from which to study all of the potential effects of UBI.

Following news this week, it may be that this is about to change.

In 2016, Switzerland held a referendum among its populace into whether it should launch a UBI for its citizens. The referendum was advocated by Basic Income Earth Network – Switzerland, who were able to raise over 100,000 signatures in under 18 months – a feat which granted them a referendum under the Swiss constitution. But the Swiss people did not vote in favour of the proposal, with only 23% of the population voting for it. The UBI proposal did not have government backing, and no major political party in Switzerland supported it either, so its defeat would have been fairly inevitable, and was finished off by stories of immigrants invading the small country seeking handouts. The usual stuff.

However, film-maker Rebecca Panian decided it would be interesting to organise a pilot of the system put forward in the referendum as part of a documentary project. Just like the Basic Income which was subject of the referendum, every person over 25 would receive 2500 Swiss Francs (about £1970) every month (although any income and benefits would off-set the amount, and so this was not a truly Universal stipend).

She found a suitable location, the village of Rheinau by the German border, attractive because its population make-up was representative of Switzerland as a whole. She was then able to obtain the co-operation of the local council. Provided Panian and her team were able to convince half of the village population of 1300 to sign up, she had herself a deal. Following a road-show organised by the council and Panian’s team – ‘Village Tests Future’ - to advise the locals of the opportunity on 31 August, she had signed up the magic number by 11 September, four days before the deadline.

Armed with the permission to go ahead, and the numbers to make the pilot meaningful, Panian and her team now need to raise funds to make it happen. Unlike a government initiative, which could be funded by the tax system, the Rheinau pilot will be crowdfunded. But in view of the international interest in UBI in general, it is hoped that the funds will be secured quickly. If you’d like to contact the team to make a contribution, or ask for additional information, you can email them via their web-site here

I will certainly be keeping an eye on the progress of this pilot and will be very interested to watch the film which will be made as a result; yet another example of the thinking and practical research going into Universal Basic Income. Panian herself said that she wishes to “…at least test an idea for a new future before dismissing it as nonsense.”

If anyone has heard of any further initiatives or pilot studies, I would be interested to hear about them.

David R Thompson