03/06/2016 World Business Report

So should humans get paid... to do nothing?

Switzerland votes on a basic monthly income for all,

Plus - planes trains and automobiles.

As a summer of strikes looms in France, we're going to find out

what it means if you're planning to travel in Europe, and what it means

A bite-size snapshot coming up of everything in the world of business

and money. Buyers size up the Japanese firm

at the centre of that massive We start in Switzerland,

where voters are about to be asked Should there be free money

for everyone? "Yes, please,"

I hear you all answer. But it's actually

a bit more complicated than that. A referendum this weekend will

decide whether Switzerland will introduce an 'unconditional basic

income' for the whole population. That is, an equal monthly payment to

each citizen, Every Swiss adult would receive

around $2,500 a month, regardless Existing welfare programmes would be

scrapped, but the costs would still be enormous - an estimated extra $25

billion a year to fund the program. That would have to be made up

by higher sales taxes on goods or The Swiss aren't

the only ones looking at this. Finland is due to trial a universal

basic income next year - but on a much more limited scale, and

just a few hundred dollars a month. And in the Netherlands,

the city of Utrecht is also So what are the arguments

on either side? Robots are taking our jobs. They may

not look exactly like these demonstrators, but machines are

increasingly doing work humans were once paid to do. So where does that

leave asked? Swiss campaigners want a guaranteed basic income for all of

us. We want to introduce a basic income for you, human beings,

because we don't want to grab your work and make you suffer. We want to

make you free. In Switzerland, over 50% of total work that is done is

unpaid. It is care work, at home, it is in different communities. So that

work will be more valuable with a basic income. The proposal is to

give humans $2500 each per month whether they were not. What they

haven't done is suggested how a basic income might be paid for. If

the Swiss to vote yes, it will be up to the Swiss parliament to decide.

Understandably, in Parliament, there is opposition, but not surprisingly

because of cost. Many analysts believe Switzerland could afford

basic income because welfare benefits could be cut. My major

criticism is very simple. With open borders, it is a total

impossibility, especially for Switzerland, with a high living

standard. If you were to offer every individual a Swiss amount of money,

you would have billions of people who would try to move into

Switzerland. Free movement of people is already controversial in

Switzerland. A Swiss don't want to make their country more attractive

than its neighbours. Polls show voters will reject basic income. But

the campaign has started a lively debate about how we work and live in

the future. A lot of work going into those robot

costumes. We will keep across that referendum.

To Asia now, where there could be a takeover on the horizon for Takata,

the Japanese firm at the centre of that huge faulty airbag scandal.

Sharanjit Leyl is following this for us in Singapore.

My first thought was who would want to buy this company? Believe it or

not, quite a few different companies are interested and are putting their

names in. This is all according to various reports that this may

happen, and we know Takata is at the centre of these record recall

scandal. We are also seeing it shares surging today. They were up

as much as 12% earlier although they are down now. According to the

sources, it is companies like private equity firms that are being

names that are potentially interested in Takata. It comes after

the only did them said in February they are looking to restructure

themselves, and that is as they face billions of dollars in recall costs,

mostly born by the auto makers. These airbags have been linked to

some 13 deaths, including ten in the US. Of course there are a huge

number of recalls associated, well over 100 million. A lot of the auto

makers are having to bear much of this. Again, discussions are in

early stages and may not lead to formal offers. Thank you. We will

keep across it. We are also looking at the wave

of strikes and protests sweeping across France over proposed reforms

to labour laws - effectively making Train services were cut by half

on Thursday, with more disruption expected today, although strikes on

the Paris Metro and by air traffic To add to the chaos,

Air France pilots have now called for a strike starting on June 11 to

coincide with the Euro 2016 football It's a subject that's causing major

concerns for airline chiefs at the IATA annual general meeting

in Dublin. Thomas Reynaert, who runs the lobby

group Airlines For Europe, told us a Even as soon as these strikes are

announced, a couple of days before, a lines need to take measures. It

already has an operational impact. It does impact on profitability as

well. I also probably most importantly passengers, our

customers. They need to take measures and already have. They have

changed their plans, whether it is holiday or business plans. It is

impacting us whether the strike takes place or not.

Alan Bowen is an international consultant to the travel industry.

Thank you for coming in at this time. I want to talk about the

air-traffic strike. That was supposed to be for four days and

they called it off after one day. How much damage does one day do to

the industry? A phenomenal amount, about 100,000 people affected by a

one-day strike. It is not just the day, it goes on for days afterwards,

because Ryanair, easyJet, if they cancel one flight, they have to find

another 186. The flights were full. Finding 186 seats is difficult. The

airlines have a legal obligation to look after customers, feeding them

and putting them in hotels. Something like this can end up

adding up to millions of dollars. So they have called it off, but not

completely. So they are thinking of another strike, the air-traffic

controllers, round the Euro Championships. Yes, they are. For

the uninitiated, air-traffic control strikes in France don't just affect

flights in and out of France, but also flights going over France. Yes,

to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, many other destinations all affected.

Some have taken an extra long route over the Atlantic, adding an hour,

500 miles, an extra field. Pilots and cabin crew run out of time

earlier than expected so other flights have to be cancelled. So you

have to reschedule the staff. How much reputational damage is this

doing? A lot of us joke about the French loving a good strike, but

let's be serious. How much reputational damage is this doing?

It is beginning to make a serious impact. Business travellers are

cancelling. If they can't be guaranteed to get there and back in

one or two days, there will not go at all. It is damaging business on a

long-term basis. We have to wrap it up. But for those out there thinking

of travelling around Europe, given I are? Be very careful. -- keep an eye

out. Thank you. Snapchat may now be more popular

than Twitter, It says the fast-growing messaging

app now has 150 million people that use it every day - a big jump from

the 110 million it had in December. but in April it said 310 million

people used the site each month - That would put daily usage at

around 130 million. Its user base is also barely

growing, with an increase The OPEC group of oil producing

nations has failed to agree a cap on crude production at

its twice yearly meeting in Vienna. Some members had been pushing

for a deal to prop up oil prices, which have recovered

in recent months but are still In a statement, OPEC said

its members were committed to Speaking after the meeting,

Saudi Arabia pledged that it would not flood the market

by increasing production. Don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some of the I will be back shortly with Chris to

take a look at some of the newspapers from around the world.