How to use public money to achieve more for everyone

Do you know that: people who fascinate you simply because they radiate enormous energy? That’s how I felt when I met Ondine Riesen, the founder of Ting. Just infectious, energetic. Ting is a groundbreaking project, a community that approaches financing differently: monthly contributions are used to build shared wealth, which is then available to everyone as temporary income through a pay-as-you-go system.

Since some of you recently commented that “Money Talks” should also write something about alternative financing models (thanks for the push!), here’s what I heard from Ondine and Ting about public money and learning from research on an unconditional basic income – I’m very excited about the discussion and your comments. 😉

In the broadest sense it is about Community financing around the Providing money together with a group of people to support a specific goal, project or initiative. This is usually done through donations, loans, investments or at most pre-sales.

Community-based financing models can very different shapes and devote themselves to various topics, for example microfinance for microenterprises, healthcare (community-based health insurance), jointly financed infrastructure, etc.

With the increasing use of technology, a whole range of models are now available Crowd area: For example, you can buy real estate together with others, participate in companies, lend others money at interest via crowdlending, etc.

The Ting community’s pioneering project is not about maximizing returns, but rather about creating a temporary income opportunity through redistribution.

The best known examples of Community financing via the pay-as-you-go system is social insurance. With the AHV, economically active people finance the pensioners by financing the benefits with the money invested.

Ting uses the same principle (information on the Ting website):

Ting’s goal is to invest in people and change through the redistribution of money, so that the community does not promise monetary gain or returns.

According to the website, the community needs 2,500 members for the financing model to function smoothly in the long term. Today there are already 484 people present.

Of course, such a model also has its advantages and disadvantages: The advantages are certainly that you are committed to the community and, if necessary, have a source of financing for your project. Disadvantages and risks are personal to you if, for example, your application is not approved or the system is abused (short-term deposits, long-term withdrawals). The community tries to counter such risks with appropriate conditions and common rules.

Ting’s model, which as a community provides temporary income through redistribution, is similar to the idea of ​​an unconditional basic income, but is not the same.

An unconditional basic income goes further: every citizen of a state receives a living income for life. For Switzerland, the proposal for the 2016 vote was 2,500 francs per month.

If Advantages of such a basic income Fight against poverty, the possibility of protection against unemployment and greater personal freedom called. Face it Financing problemsthe organization and a frequently heard point of criticism is the question of whether there is such a basic income the incentive to work may or may not be reduced. To test the effects of an unconditional basic income, there are a number of different experiments and field trials:

For anyone interested in the topic, here some books on this subject: “Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World,” Annie Lowrey; “Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Healthy Economy,” Philippe Van Parijs, Yannick Vanderborght and, from January 2024, “Unconditional Freedom” by David Casassas.

Before a basic income can be achieved, a lot of data and experiments will have to be conducted and organizational and political questions will have to be clarified.

how do you see it? How about community-based financing models or an unconditional basic income?💰