Finland is about to embark on an extremely ambitious journey to test one of the most controversial economic theories of our time. The country’s social security institution known as Kela will be handing free money to thousands of jobless citizens on a monthly basis for the next two years. It’s a test of an economic strategy known as Basic Income, which at its core is essentially free money for every person once they reach a certain age, without any prerequisites.

　　芬兰即将开启一段颇具雄心的旅程，以测试本世纪最具争议的经济理论之一。该国被称为Kela的社会保障机构，将在未来两年间，向数以千计的失业公民每月提供免费资金。这是对一种被称为“基本收入”的经济策略的测验，从本质上来讲，该经济策略的核心是在每个人达到特定的年龄后，在没有任何先决条件的情况下提供免费资金。

　　The idea behind Basic Income is that by giving every individual a certain amount of money with which to keep themselves out of poverty, they are better off regardless of all other factors. If a person has a well-paying job, they still get Basic Income, just like everyone else, thereby creating a society in which every adult is above poverty and also continually contributing to the economy by spending money.

　　“基本收入”背后的理念是通过给予每个人一定数量的金钱，使他们自己摆脱贫困，在不管所有其他因素的条件下经济情况变得良好。如果一个有高薪工作的人仍然拿“基本收入”，就能创造一个每个成年人都脱离贫困并且通过花钱为经济持续做出贡献的社会。

　　That sounds like a utopia, right? But there are other factors that create a lot of uncertainty, like whether or not free money will impact a society’s motivation to actually work. In the case of Finland’s experiment, individuals will be given a monthly payment of around $590, which is enough to prevent those individuals from becoming homeless, but obviously not enough to go clubbing on the weekends or live frivolously.

　　这听起来有点乌托邦，是不是?但是还有其他因素造成了很多不确定性，例如免费资金是否会影响社会实际工作的动机。就芬兰实验这个案例来说，每个人每月将获得大约590美金的报酬，这足以保障这些个体远离无家可归，但不足以让他们周末能去俱乐部或者活得潇洒。

　　This is far from the first test of Basic Income, and in recent years many programs have sought to put the theory to the test, even in the United States. Y Combinator launched a small pilot program to test Basic Income in Oakland, offering 100 residents up to $2,000 per month just for existing. The program was small in scale and timeline, and many questioned whether or not it could possibly prove the theory one way or the other.

　　这和首次“基本收入”测试相距甚远，近年来，很多项目一直企图将该理论付诸于时间，即便是在美国，Y Combinator推出了一个小型试点计划以测试奥克兰的“基本收入”，他们每月为100位居民提供2000美元生存。该项目范围小时间短，很多人都质疑它能否以一种方式或其他方式证明该理论。

　　At its heart, that’s the problem with all test of Basic Income; When individuals know that it’s only a test and that the benits aren’t permanent, they aren’t likely to change their behavior. If the test subjects in Finland find jobs and thrive, that doesn’t necessarily prove that they wouldn’t prer to remain jobless if their Basic Income was promised for life. Whatever the case, it’ll be interesting to see how the large-scale test pans out over the next 24 months.

　　在其核心处，所有的“基本收入”测试都有一个问题：当人们知道这只是一个测验，这些福利不是长久之计时，他们不可能改变自己的行为。如果芬兰的测试主体找到工作并且发达起来了，那并不一定会证明，如果他们的“基本收入”被承诺终生时，他们不会更乐意失业。无论如何，看看大规模测试如何在接下来的24个月内终结将是有趣的。

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