USBIG
NEWSLETTER VOL. 4 NO. 24, NOV-DEC 2003
This is
the Newsletter of USBIG, (http://www.usbig.net)
a network promoting the discussion of the basic income guarantee (BIG) in the
United States--a policy that would unconditionally guarantee a subsistence-level
income for everyone. If you'd like to be added to or removed from this list
please email: Karl@Widerquist.com.
1.
BRAZILIAN CONGRESS APPROVES THE BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE
2. USBIG
CONFERENCE TO INCLUDE SPEECHES BY FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR HAMMOND AND BRAZILIAN
SENATOR SUPLICY
3. A BILL
INCLUDING A (SMALL) BIG HAS THE SUPPORT OF REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
4. BIEN
RELEASES THE PROVISIONAL PROGRAM OF ITS TENTH CONGRESS
5. OTHER
BIG EVENTS
6. BIG
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
7.
CAREGIVERS CREDIT CAMPAIGN AIMS TO EXTEND CHILD BENEFIT TO CARERGIVERS OF
ADULTS
8. POVERTY
DOCUMENTARY, "A DAY'S WORK A DAY'S PAY," IS AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
9. HOOVER
FELLOWSHIP IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ETHICS
10. RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
11. NEW
LINKS
12. LINKS
AND OTHER INTO
1.
BRAZILIAN CONGRESS APPROVES THE BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE
The
Brazilian National Congress has approved the Bill of Law, authored by
Senator
Eduardo Suplicy, that will create a basic income guarantee in Brazil. The Bill
now goes to President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva who is expected to sign it. If
signed into law, the bill will begin phasing-in a basic income in 2005 starting
with the most needy. When fully implemented, the citizen basic income will mean
that all people, regardless of their origin, race, sex, age, social and
economic status will have a monetary income enough to attend their vital needs.
The bill calls for a subsistence level grant, but leaves it to the executive to
determine the exact amount of the benefit, with due regard to the stage of
development of the country and the budgetary capabilities. If this bill becomes
law, Brazil will become the first nation in history to grant the unconditional
right of subsistence to all inhabitants.
2. USBIG
CONFERENCE FEATURES FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR HAMMOND AND BRAZILIAN SENATOR
SUPLICY
The
tentative program of the Third USBIG Congress is now available. The congress
(Feb. 20-22, Washington, DC) features former Alaska Governor Jay Hammond,
Brazilian Senator Eduardo Suplicy, Sociologist Stanley Aronowitz, and
Theologian Philip Wogaman. Jay Hammond will discuss the Alaska Permanent Fund
Dividend as a model for future reforms. The fund, which he helped to create,
distributes a basic income out of state proceeds from Alaskan Oil Revenues.
Eduardo Suplicy will discuss the Brazilian Congresses recent passage of a bill
to create a basic income in Brazil and will hopefully bring news that it has
been signed into law. Stanley Aronowitz, a sociology professor, union leader,
and former Green Party nominee for New York Governor, will discuss basic income
and the jobless future. Philip Wogaman, one of the leaders of the guaranteed
income movement of the 1960s will discuss the moral issues of the BIG debate
then and now.
The
Congress will include panels on, "The Economics of Poverty,"
"The Impact of Poverty on Health," "Can Technology Eliminate the
Need to Work?," "Can Resource Rents Fully Fund a Basic Income?,"
"The Ethics of Unconditional Redistribution," "An Alaska Style
Oil Dividend for Iraq," "Job Guarantees and Income Guarantees:
Substitutes or Complements?," "National Politics and the Basic Income
Guarantee," "Economic Modeling of the Cost of a Basic Income
Guarantee," "Is there a Right to a Basic Income?," "Strategies
for Social Reform," "A Call to Action Against Poverty,"
"The Implementation of Social Reform, and "Building the Movement: A
Round Table Discussion on Realizing a Basic Income Guarantee."
Registration
instructions, hotel information, and the full program are available on the
internet at http://www.usbig.net. Other
participants include:
Nicolaus
Tideman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, editor of "Land and
Taxation"
Steve
Clemons, New America Foundation
Alanna
Hartzok, Co-Director of the Earth Rights Institute
Allan
Sheahen, author of "Guaranteed Income: the Right to Economic
Security"
Alexandra
Bernasek, Colorado State University
Anna Marie
Klein, The Katahdin Institute
Carla
Theodore, Witnesses for a Sustainable Economy
Charley
Clark, St. John’s University, Author of "The Basic Income Guarantee:
Ensuring Progress and Prosperity in the 21st Century."
Cynthia
Reeves Tuttle, Bread for the World Institute
Dave
Richardson, Secretary, American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12
David
Hilfiker, founder of Joseph's House, author of "Injustice: How Ghettos
Happen"
David
Wetzell, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico
Diane
Pearlman, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Edward H.
Clarke, Washington, DC
Eri
Noguchi, the Association to Benefit Children
George McGuire,
Green Party of New York State
Harry F.
Dahms, Florida State University
James
Bryan, Manhattanville College
James
Hughes, Trinity College, host of "Changesurfer Radio"
Jason
Burke Murphy, Saint Louis University
Jeff
Smith, Geonomy Society, Editor of "The Geonomist"
Jim Sykes,
Green Party of Alaska
Jorge Iván
González, Bogotá, Columbia
Karl
Widerquist, Oxford University, coauthor of "Economics of Social
Workers."
Laura
Paszkiewicz, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Leland
Neuberg, Boston University
Louise C.
Keely, The Brookings Institution and the University of Wisconsin
Marshall
Brain, author of "The Way Stuff Works"
Meredith
Dodson, Grassroots Organizer and Director of Domestic Campaigns, RESULTS
Michael A.
Lewis, SUNY-Stony Brook School of Social Welfare, coauthor of "Economics
for Social Workers"
Mike
Murray, Retired Professor, author of "...And Economic Justice for
All"
Paula
Dyan, Independent Scholar
Pavlina R.
Tcherneva, the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability at University of
Missouri-Kansas City
Pete
Farina, Washington, DC
Philip
Harvey, Rutgers School of Law, coauthor of "Americas Misunderstood Welfare
State: Persistent Myths, Enduring Realities"
Reid
Cramer, New America Foundation
Richard K.
Caputo, Yeshiva University
Roy
Morrison, Independent scholar and author
Stephen
Bezruchka, University of Washington
Steve
Shafarman, Citizen Policies Institute, author of "Healing Politics"
Theresa
Funiciello, Caregivers Credit Campaign, author of "The Tyranny of
Kindness"
3. A BILL
INCLUDING A (VERY SMALL) BIG HAS THE SUPPORT OF SEVERAL REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS
There is
actually a bill in Congress right now that includes a small basic income
guarantee. The bill [introduced by Representative John Linder (R-GA)] is aimed
mostly at replacing the income tax with a national retail sales tax of 23%. The
bill has little chance of passing, but it has the backing of more than twenty
republican members of Congress. The popularity of the bill with this group of
lawmakers may come despite--rather than because of--its inclusion of basic
income guarantee. A shift from income to sales taxes is usually expected to
lead to wealthy people paying a smaller share of taxes, and people with very
low incomes paying a larger share. To make the system more progressive, and to
ensure that no one below the poverty line is a net taxpayer, the bill includes
a tax rebate of 23% of the poverty line for each family. Although it is a minor
provision in a bill with a different agenda, that tax rebate is a small basic
income guarantee.
4. BIEN
RELEASES THE PROVISIONAL PROGRAM OF ITS TENTH CONGRESS
The Tenth
Congress of the Basic Income European Network, "The Right to a Basic
Income: Egalitarian Democracy" will be held Barcelona, September 19-20,
2004. The Congress is being held within the framework of the Universal Forum of
Cultures, as part of the Dialogue on "Human Rights, Emerging Needs and New
Opportunities" organized by Catalonia's Institute of Human Rights. CALL
FOR PAPERS: the deadline for submissions is March 31st, 2004, for details see
the BIEN website (http://www.basicincome.org),
or contact Antonio Noguera (jose.noguera@uab.es).
1st day,
Sunday, September 19th:
11:30-12:00
Institutional presentation
12:00-14:00:
Opening plenary session: "The Basic Challenges in the Justification of
Basic Income"
12:00-13:00:
Exchange 1: "Right to Basic Income and Duty of Reciprocity"
13:00-14:00:
Exchange 2: "Basic Income and Care-Work"
15:30-17:00:
Panels and parallel workshops
17:30-19:00:
Panels and parallel workshops
2nd day,
Monday, September 20th:
9:30-11:00:
Panels and parallel workshops
11:30-13:00:
Panels and parallel workshops
14:30-17:30:
Closing plenary session: "Basic Income in Response to Systemic
Crisis"
14:30-16:00:
Exchange 1: "Facing the New Crisis of Social Security and the Welfare
State"
16:00-17:30:
Exchange 2: "The Prospects of Basic Income in Developing Countries"
17:30-17:45:
Closing speeches
18:00-20:00
BIEN General Assembly
5. OTHER
BIG EVENTS
DEBATE ON
BASIC INCOME AT THE UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA. MADRID (ES), 3 December 2003: Within
the framework of the "solidarity week" of the Universidad Autónoma de
Madrid, there was be a debate on "the right to a citizen's material
existence: basic income" with the participation of José Barea, Jose
Antonio Pérez, and Daniel Raventós. Further information: "Daniel
Raventos" (ravento@eco.ub.es).
-From BIEN
3rd
SYMPOSIUM OF THE RED RENTA BASICA, BARCELONA, 10 December 2003: The third
conference of Spain's national network on basic income was held at Barcelona's
Pompeu Fabra University with the participation of academics such as Jordi Guiu,
Jordi Mundo, Sebastia Sarasa, Jaime Pastor, Trade Union leaders such as Izaskun
de la Fuente, politicians such as Carme Porta, Ricard Goma, Antoni Comin, Neus
Munte, Nekane Azelai and members of the Board of the Red Renta Basica. Further
information at http://www.redrentabasica.org
and from secretaria@redrentabasica.org.
-From BIEN
6. BIG
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
ALASKA
PERMANENT FUND DISTRIBUTES A BIG OF $1,108 THIS YEAR. The Alaska Permanent Fund
Dividend, which was distributed in November, came to $1108 per person. That's
down from the last two years, reflecting the decline in financial markets. The
PFD comes from both oil revenue and investments. During the height of the stock
market boom, its investments actually returned more revenue than oil, bringing
the dividend to nearly $2000. "The PFD continues to be the subject for
attempted political raids. Oil companies and outside tourism companies want to
see the state raid people's permanent fund dividends rather than tax
anyone--like oil and tourism companies," says Jim Sykes of the Alaskan
Green Party, but popular support has so far kept the PFD in place.
POSTERS IN
THE FRANKFURT SUBWAY ADVERTISE BIG
After
several months of preparation, the Frankfurt Group of basic income supporters
is now ready to go public with a poster in Frankfurt subway stations to
advertise an unconditional basic income. They will also inform politicians,
journalists, interest groups, and relevant newspapers about their ideas
concerning a UBI. Their "theses", as advertised on the poster, are
available on their website.
For
further information: Stefan Heckel, Axel Jansen, Sascha Liebermann, http://www.freiheitstattvollbeschaeftigung.de;
S.Liebermann@freiheitstattvollbeschaeftigung.de
-From BIEN
BIG
NETWORKS IN THE MAKING IN LATIN AMERICA
Malena
Fabregat is collecting information about moves towards a citizen's income in
Latin American countries in order to synthesize it for the newsletter of the
Spanish Red Renta Basica (www.redrentabasica.org).
Do keep her informed at rentabasica.americalatina@nodo50.org.
An
Argentinian network is in the making, under the leadership of Ruben Lo Vuolo,
Alberto Barbeito, Elsa Gil, Julieta Elgarte and others. Its web site is http://www.ingresociudadano.org.
-From BIEN
BIG
LEAFLET FOR THE ELECTIONS IN SWITZERLAND
Within the
context of the campaign for Switzerland's federal elections (19 October 2003),
the Swiss basic income network BIEN-CH, created on the occasion of BIEN's
Geneva congress in September 2002, produced a bilingual leaflet presenting the
case for basic income . It was sent to all candidates and to the press, and can
be obtained from Bridget DOMMEN, 100 ch. des Mollies, 1293 Bellevue, bdommen@mail-box.ch.
-From BIEN
7.
CAREGIVERS CREDIT CAMPAIGN AIMS TO EXTEND CHILD BENEFIT TO CARERGIVERS OF
ADULTS
Two years
ago Congress passed a law extending a refundable $1,000 per-child tax credit to
all those who care for children. Its refundability makes it a categorical
income guarantee and has made it invaluable for low-income parents. The
Caregiver Credit Campaign is now pushing to have it extended to those who care
for infirm adults. For information for how you can help with this effort go to
http://www.caregivercredit.org.
8. POVERTY
DOCUMENTARY, "A DAY'S WORK A DAY'S PAY," IS RELEASED ON VIDEO
This
powerful documentary screened at the USBIG Conference in 2002 and was broadcast
nationally on PBS, and won the Harry Chapin Media Award for excellence in films
addressing issues of poverty and hunger. A DAY'S WORK A DAY'S PAY is an
inspiring documentary about welfare recipients who find their lives profoundly
affect by the 1996 welfare reform legislation and become leaders in the fight
for economic justice in New York City. They face major obstacles such as laws
that classify them as non-workers, a mayor and general public that is
unsympathetic to their plight, and a national anti-welfare sentiment that
stigmatizes them further. To order a copy of A DAY'S WORK, A DAY'S PAY call
1-888-367-9154, order on the web at http://www.newday.com/films/A_Days_Work.html.
9. HOOVER
FELLOWSHIP IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ETHICS
The Hoover
Chair in Economics and Social Ethics at the Catholic University of Louvain
(Louvain-la-neuve) has opened applications for its 2004-2005 fellowships.
Although the fellowship is open to many topics other than basic income, the
Hoover Chair produces some of the best academic research on BIG in the world.
The fellowship is intended for scholars from outside Belgium, who hold a
doctorate or possess equivalent qualifications and are active in the field of
economic or social ethics. At least some rudiments of French and an active
knowledge of either English or French are required. Fellows with no other
source of income are offered an all-inclusive gross monthly stipend of Euros
2000 for a period not exceeding 6 months. For more details, go to: http://www.etes.ucl.ac.be/.
Or
contact: Therese Davio, Universite catholique de Louvain, Chaire Hoover
d'éthique économique et sociale, 3 Place Montesquieu, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium. E-mail: davio@etes.ucl.ac.be.
10. RECENT
PUBLICATIONS ON BIG
BIG
DISCUSSED IN MOTHER JONES MAGAZINE: An article by George Packer discusses Ray
Boshara and Michael Sherraden's recent proposal for a $6,000 investment fund
for every child born in the United States. Packer considered the proposal an
improvement over the kinds of guaranteed income proposals that were seriously
considered in the 1960s and 70s.
BLOCK,
FRED & SOMERS, MARGARET. "In the shadow of Speenhamland. Social policy
and the old poor law", Politics and Society 31 (2), June 2003, 283-323.
(Authors' addresses: flblock@ucdavis.edu, peggs@umich.edu.)
No ancient
episode played a more important role in contemporary debates on social policy
than the introduction and abolition of the so-called Speenhamland system in
late 18th century England, as analysed by Karl Polanyi in The Great
Transformation. Reference to this
episode is generally used as a deadly argument against guaranteed income
schemes. In this article, Fred Block (University of California, Davis) and
Margaret Somers (University of Michigan, AnnArbor) argue that the real lessons
to be drawn from the episode are quite different: "Welfare and income
maintenance policies need to be debated free of the mythologies that were
created two hundred years ago... it is time to reject the ideological claim
that the best way to fight poverty is by imposing increasingly stringent
conditions on ever shrinking transfer payments to poor households".
-From BIEN
BRAIN,
MARSHALL. "Robotic Freedom", 2003,
http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-freedom.htm. (Author's address: marshall@marshallbrain.com.)
"What
if we gave every citizen of the United States $25,000 to spend? $25,000 sounds
impossible the first time you hear it, but consider the possibility...The
economy would be strong because of all of the consumer spending. The economy
would be stable because income (and therefore spending) would be guaranteed.
With $25,000 per year to spend, innovators would no longer be forced to work...
Inventors would have time to invent, writers to write, entrepreneurs to breed
new companies, etc... Most importantly,
it would create a nation where the citizens are truly free. If every person had
$25,000 per year in today's dollars to spend, they would be able to live their
lives even if they lost their jobs. If robots took their jobs it would not be
catastrophic. People would be able to weather the robotic takeover, retrain and
move into new careers." In this provocative essay (part of a series called
"Robotic Nation"), Marshall Brain, best-selling author of How Stuff
Works and The Teenager's Guide to the Real World, argues for a universal basic
income for all US citizens. How would it be funded? Marshall Brain makes ten
suggestions. They include familiar ones such as an Alaska-type oil fund, but
also advertising on one side of all dollar bills (which should raise annually
$25 per capita, he reckons) and the shortening of the private copyright period,
with public appropriation of all revenue generated beyond that period.
-From BIEN
SALA-I-MARTIN,
XAVIER & SUBRAMANIAN, ARVIND. "Addressing the Natural Resource Curse:
An illustration from Nigeria", NBER Working Paper w9804, June 2003 (http://www.nber.org/papers/w9804).
According
to this technical paper by Spanish economist and Columbia University Professor
Sala-i-Martin (also the author of one of the most authoritative estimates of
recent trends in worldwide income inequality) and IMF staff member Subramanian,
the oil-rich Nigeria would be better off if it distributed its mineral wealth
directly to the people as an unconditional dividend, rather than continue with
a system which has seen poverty double in the last 20 years. As a result of
such distribution, the country's economy could be rejuvenated and debt relief
would be possible as opportunities for corruption were reduced. "Even with
all the difficulties that will no doubt plague its actual implementation, our
proposal will, at least, be vastly superior to the status quo." (For an
informal summary, see David Chances report for Reuter: http://www.earthrights.net/nigeria/news/oilmoney-imf.html.
-From BIEN
BIG
DEBATED IN DUTCH NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
On 16
September 2003, Holland's left-of-centre daily paper De Volkskrant published a
double-page discussion of four possible futures for the Dutch welfare state: a
marginal modification of the status quo, a more strongly insurance-oriented
public system, a public system reduced to residual assistance and a basic
income. They asked five "experts" to evaluate the four scenarios
according to ten criteria (such as growth, feasibility, solidarity or freedom
of choice) and to weight these criteria. The public insurance scenario came out
on top and had been ranked first by two of the experts (Philip de Jong,
University of Amsterdam, and Lans Bovenberg, University of Tilburg). Basic
income was ranked first by two of the experts (Mickey Huybregtsen, former
consultant for MacKinsey, and Claudia Zuiderwijk, a hospital director and the
only woman in the panel).
-From BIEN
11. NEW
LINKS
WITNESS
FOR A SANE ECONOMY promotes a basic income guarantee as a part of a strategy
for a more manageable and sustainable economy. They have a website and a
newsletter. http://home.earthlink.net/~cartheo/
12. LINKS
AND OTHER INFO
FOR LINKS
TO DOZENS OF BIG WEBSITES AROUND THE WORLD, go to http://www.usbig.net, and click on
"links." These links are to any website with information about BIG,
but USBIG does not necessarily endorse their programs.
Thanks to
Allan Ostergren, Mark Ericson, Eduardo Suplicy, Jim Sykes, Steve Shafarman, and
the BIEN Newsletter Committee for help in putting together this newsletter.
THE U.S.
BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE NETWORK (USBIG), which publishes this newsletter, is
dedicated to promoting the discussion of the basic income guarantee (BIG) in
the United States. BIG is a generic name for any proposal to create a minimum
income level below which no citizen's income can fall. Information on BIG and
USBIG can be found on the web at: http://www.usbig.net.
If you know any BIG news; if you have any comments on the newsletter or the web
site; if you know anyone who would like to be added to this list; or if you
would like to be removed from this list; please send me an email: Karl@Widerquist.com.
As always,
your comments on this newsletter are gladly welcomed.
Thanks,
-Karl
Widerquist, coordinator, USBIG.