Benoit Hamon - the 'French Bernie Sanders' - goes from underdog to Socialist favourite
22 January 2017
Excerpts:
Benoit Hamon, who was a surprise winner of the first round of the French Socialists' presidential primary on Sunday, was the furthest to the left of the top three contenders.
Hamon, 49, whose signature proposal is the introduction of a universal basic income, shot up in voter surveys during a rushed campaign that saw three debates in little over a week in January.
His key proposal, which would see unemployed and low-income workers receive a monthly payment of between 600 and 750 euros ($795) a month, would entail a costly and radical reform of state spending -- some 300 billion euros a year, by Hamon's own estimates.
He sees basic income as a response to the erosion of jobs caused by the digital revolution, proposing a tax on the wealth created by the use of robots to help underwrite the cost.
"We need a tax system that is based not on the number of workers in our companies but on the wealth created by the company," Hamon has argued.
Hamon, an admirer of US Senator Bernie Sanders, had what he called an "inspiring and stimulating meeting" with the losing Democratic presidential candidate last September.
http://www.thelocal.fr/20170122/benoit-hamon-the-french-bernie-sanders-goes-from-underdog-to-socialist-favorite
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