USBIG NEWSLETTER VOL. 7, NO. 41, SEP-OCT. 2006
This is the Newsletter of the USBIG Network (http://www.usbig.net), which
promotes the discussion of the basic income guarantee (BIG) in the United
States. BIG is a policy that would unconditionally guarantee a
subsistence-level income for everyone. If you would like to be added to or
removed from this list please email: Karl@Widerquist.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. USBIG CONGRESS: PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 10
2. EDITORIAL: MAN CHOOSES PRISON OVER POVERTY
3. BIG ADVOCATE WINS REELECTION TO BRAZILIAN SENATE
4. ALASKAN DIVIDEND RISES AS OIL TAX RATE ON OIL COMPANIES FALL
5. CANADA: BIG REEMERGES AS A NATIONAL ISSUE
6. AUSTRIA: PARTY SUPPORTING BIG FINISHES FIRST IN ELECTIONS
7. KUWAIT: GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTES OIL-DIVIDEND TO CITIZENS
8. IRISH NATIONALIST PARTY, SINN FEIN, ADVOCATES BASIC PENSION
9. MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SUPPORTS BIG STUDY
10. NAMIBIA: IMF CRITICIZES BASIC INCOME PROPOSAL
11. UPCOMING EVENTS
12. RECENT EVENTS
13. NEW LINKS
14. LINKS AND OTHER INFO
1. USBIG CONGRESS: PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 10
The Sixth USBIG Congress will be held in conjunction
with the Eastern Economics Association Annual Meeting in New York City February
23-25, 2007. The deadline for paper proposals has been extended to November 10,
2006.
Scholars, activists, and others are invited to attend, to propose papers &
presentations, and to organize panel discussions. Proposals are welcome on
topics relating to the Basic Income Guarantee or to the current state of
poverty and inequality. Suggested topics include but are not limited to the
financing of BIG; the history of BIG; gender, family, and labor market issues
of BIG; rights and responsibilities relating to BIG; strategies for
implementing BIG; empirical issues of BIG; and the state of poverty and
inequality. The purpose of the conference is discussion, and all points of view
are welcome. The USBIG Congress is entirely autonomous in content and
submissions are welcome in any academic discipline and from non-academics.
Featured speakers include Dalton Conley, Stanley Aronowitz, and Eduardo
Suplicy. Dalton Conley is the director of the Center for Advanced Social
Science Research and professor of sociology and public policy at New York
University, and he is the author of Honky, Being Black—Living in the
Red, and The Starting Gate. Stanley Aronowitz is a
Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York and
author or editor of twenty three books including, Just Around
Corner, How Class Works, The Last Good Job in America, and The
Jobless Future. William DiFazio is Professor of Sociology at
For details on how to submit a proposal go to http://www.usbig.net or contact
the conference organizer, Karl Widerquist (Karl@Widerquist.com).
2. EDITORIAL: MAN CHOOSES PRISON OVER POVERTY
I was struck by a report in the Associated Press reported on October 12th that
a 63-year-old Ohio man intentionally had himself convicted of bank robbery.
Timothy J. Bowers sought a three-year prison sentence to bridge the gap until
he becomes eligible for full Social Security benefits. Bowers had lost his job
making deliveries for a drug wholesaler more than three years ago, and had been
unable to find anything but minimum wage labor, which he could not live on. So,
finally, he went to a bank, handed the clerk an envelope and demanded that she
put cash it in. He then walked straight to the bank’s security guard,
confessed, handed him the envelope filled with only $80 in cash, and calmly
waited for the police.
The court-ordered psychological evaluation pronounced him sane and competent to
stand trail. Judge Angela White gave Bowers the three-year sentence he asked
for. According to the AP, “Prosecutors had considered arguing against putting
Bowers in prison at taxpayer expense, but they worried he would do something
more reckless to be put behind bars.” Arguing against tough sentencing is an
ironic position for American prosecutors well known for locking away petty
criminals.
This is an isolated incident. It is hardly a repeat of the Irish Potato famine
when there were stories of large numbers of people getting themselves
arrested to avoid starvation. But still, I think it says something about the
low-wage labor market in the United States today. U.S. prisons are not easy,
pleasant, or kind places to be under any circumstances. America is not in a
famine; by some measures it is the richest country in the world. What does it
say about the jobs we offer the underprivileged when a sane person can choose
prison over labor market?
3. BIG ADVOCATE WINS REELECTION TO BRAZILIAN SENATE
On October 1, 2006, Senator Eduardo Suplicy, one of the strongest supporters of
the basic income guarantee holding elected to national office anywhere in the
world, won reelection to a third six-year term in the Brazilian Senate. Suplicy
represents Brazil’s largest state, Sao Paolo. Suplicy is a founding member of
Senator Suplicy’s reelection demonstrates the enormous popularity of BIG with
Brazil’s poor. Sao Paolo is
Senator Suplicy will discuss the next steps toward phasing in BIG in Brazil at
the BIEN Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, November 2-4.
4. ALASKAN DIVIDEND RISES AS OIL TAX RATES FALL
The Alaskan Government announced recently that the Permanent Fund Dividend this
year will be $1106.96, or $5534.80 for a family of
five. Residents will receive the fund over the next two months depending on how
they signed up to receive it. This figure represents more than a 30 percent
increase over the 2005 dividend of $845.76.
Steve Forbes, former Republican presidential candidate and editor of Forbes
magazine, recently added his voice to those proposing an Alaska-style oil
dividend for Iraq. The fund has been extremely popular in the state of
The fund has grown, despite declining oil taxes argues Ray Metcalfe of Alaska’s
“Republican Moderate Party” writing for Alaskareport.com. A little known tax
break for oil companies known as the "Economic Limit Factor" (ELF),
passed in the 1970s, applies a mathematical formula designed to provide oil
producers with a tax cut that increases automatically every year. According to
Metcalfe, “Having eaten away at Alaska's original 15 percent severance tax for
nearly 25 years now, ELF has reduced Alaska's severance tax on most of Alaska's
North Slope oil fields to zero.”
The increase in this year’s dividend results mostly from the recovery of the
U.S. stock market, because the fund’s dividend is determined by the return on
the fund’s principle. The fund’s principle, now nearly 35 billion dollars, is
determined by oil taxes. Therefore, the fund will continue to pay out dividends
even if oil revenues stop completely. Metcalfe argues that repeal of the ELF
could help the fund to nearly double in size before Alaskan oil revenues run
out.
5. CANADA: BIG REEMERGES AS A NATIONAL ISSUE
The Basic Income Guarantee is once again gaining attention in Canada thanks to
an oped piece in the Toronto Star by Senator Hugh
Segal. The Star is
Senator Segal reviewed the history of the BIG proposal in Canada (known as the
guaranteed income), and connects it with a recent welfare study showing that
Canadian welfare recipients are worse off now than 20 years ago. Segal proposes
the guaranteed income as a solution, writing:
“For more than 30 years, I have been a relatively lonely Conservative proponent
for a guaranteed annual income, or a basic income floor. I do not believe that,
in a country such as
“Individuals who turn to welfare do so as a last recourse. Whether the
situation is the result of abuse, job loss, lack of education or training,
addiction or single-parent households, our duty as Canadians and human beings
is to guarantee an income that allows people to provide for themselves and
their families while affording them a level of dignity that boosts confidence
and inspires hope.”
“Surely the time has finally come to seriously consider a guaranteed income,
financed by the money now in innumerable other programs. It is time to simply
recognize that to be a Canadian should mean to be free of the fear that
inadequate food, shelter, clothing, recreation and basic necessities of life
cannot but impart. Poverty is rarely, if ever, a choice. Tolerating its worst
consequences in a society awash in surpluses federally, provincially and in the
private sector is an abomination.”
Sources in the Ottawa Parliament told the USBIG newsletter that there has been
a noticeable increase in interest in the guaranteed income among Canadian MP’s
since Segal’s piece first appeared.
At least one Canadian economist has followed Segal’s call for a basic income
guarantee. W. Robert Needham, of Waterloo University, wrote an oped piece for the Waterloo (Ontario) record calling for
Canadian leaders of Canadian business and public institutions to use their
influence to see the universal basic income introduced in Canada. According to
Needham, “There has long been a recognized solution route to poverty in the
concept of an unconditional basic income provided to every man, woman and child
from birth to death. This would contribute to greater equality of life chances
for many people otherwise marginalized by the system, and as a result, the pool
of potential entrepreneurial talent can be expected to be larger.”
Senator Segal’s piece is online at: http://www.canadiancrc.com/articles/Tor_Star_Welfare_study_shows_nned_guaranteed_income_02SEP06.htm.
6. AUSTRIA: PARTY SUPPORTING BIG FINISHES FIRST IN ELECTIONS
According to Wiener Zetung, Austria’s Social Democrat
Part known as SPO unexpectedly won the most votes in
Austrian elections last month, and is therefore in the process of forming a
government. The SPO favors a guaranteed basic income
of 800 euros per month for every Austrian citizen, but it will have to form a
coalition government with the more conservative rival party known as the OVP, which opposes BIG.
7. KUWAIT: GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTES OIL-DIVIDEND TO CITIZENS
Maktoob Business reports that each of the one million
citizens of Kuwait will receive a one-time government grant of 200 dinars (690 dollars). This is hardly a universal basic
income, however, because the two million foreign workers in the oil-rich
emirate were not included. Foreign workers in
8. IRELAND (NORTHERN): SINN FEIN ADVOCATES BASIC PENSION
BIEN reports, on August 21, 2006, Sinn Fein Employment and Workers Rights
spokesperson Arthur Morgan TD, commenting on figures published by financial
institution Irish Life that three quarters of Irish women have no pension
coverage, said that the figures once again demonstrated that the Government’s
pension policy is failing women in particular. Morgan further argued that
“private pensions are not the solution” and called for the introduction of “a
universal ‘basic-income’ pension funded out of the general taxation system for
all those of retirement age” to ensure economic independence for older women.
For further information: http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15602
9. MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SUPPORTS BIG STUDY
BIEN reports, the President of the “Committee on Petitions” of the European
Parliament, Marcin Libicki,
approved on June 2006 the processing of a proposal to study the viability of a
Basic Income sent by the association "Arenci"
(Leon, Spain) with the support of Spanish socialist representative at the
European Parliament Elena Valenciano. As it is
stressed in the text approved by the “Committee on Petitions”, the proposal
will be considered “because the issues that are raised fit in the list of tasks
the European Union is responsible for”. This proposal considers a Basic Income
of 421 euros per month, to be paid with consumption tax revenues. Elena Valenciano hopes that, as a result of this proposal, the
European Parliament will issue a report on Basic Income. For more information,
contact arenci@hotmail.com.
10. NAMIBIA: IMF CRITICIZES BASIC
INCOME PROPOSAL
BIEN Reports, in its recent "Country Report" on Namibia (No. 06/153
April 2006), the International Monetary Fund indicates that the recent proposal
to introduce a Basic Income Grant (BIG) providing a monthly cash grant to all
Namibians below 60 years old would be very costly and may jeopardize
macroeconomic stability. The current estimate suggests that the cost of such a
grant would be close to 5 percent of GDP. While it would reduce poverty, the
likely effect on income distribution is debatable, the IMF
says. According to the fund, the implementation of a well-targeted conditional
cash grant could be more effective in reducing poverty and improving income
distribution over time. A targeted transfer would be significantly less costly
and impinge less on macroeconomic stability. Furthermore, a conditional
transfer could be directly linked to the achievement of lagging Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) indicators, thereby
addressing both current and future poverty. The report can be downloaded at
http://www.imf.org/.
11. UPCOMING EVENTS
Cape Town, South Africa: BIEN’s Eleventh Congress:
The Basic Income Earth Network (of which USBIG is a national affiliate) will hold
it’s Eleventh International Congress in Cape Town South Africa, November 2-4,
2006. BIEN Congresses are biannual, and are now in their 21st, year.
This year’s Congress is the first to be held outside of Europe. According to
BIEN, the Congress will include presentations from all over the world such as
South Africa, Namibia, the United States, Brazil, and at least ten European
countries. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who will be out of the country
during the Congress, will make a video presentation to the Congress. The
program for the Congress is available at www.epri.org.za.
Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium: Workshop: "Is an
Unconditional Basic Income Fair to Women?" November 22, 2006
According to BIEN, the Hoover Chair for Economic and Social Ethics at the
University of Louvain will host this workshop. The main paper under discussion
will be presented by Julieta Elgarte. Other participants include Pascale Vielle, Yannick
Vanderborght, David Casassas, and Philippe Van Parijs. All available evidence
suggests that the greater freedom the basic income would give for reducing or
interrupting paid work would be exercised to a significantly greater extent by
women than by men. This could largely offset the redistribution of income
generated by the introduction of such a scheme. More seriously perhaps, it
might end up strengthening the division of labor between genders, weakening
women's commitment to the labor market, increasing their vulnerability to the
circumstances of life and their dependence on men. If this is true, would it
mean that a basic income, all things considered, would be unjust? Could
accompanying measures prevent these consequences? Do alternative ways of
strengthening women's position, such as a "homemaker's wage",
collectively funded full-time childcare or strict enforcement of equal pay for
equal work, offer better prospects for making our social and economic system
fairer to women? Registration free of charge but obligatory
no later than 15 November by mail to Therese Davio,
<davio@etes.ucl.ac.be>. For further
information: http://www.etes.ucl.ac.be/
Santiago De Compostela, Spain: The Sixth Symposium of
Red Renta Básica November
30 - December 1, 2006:
BIEN reports, the Sixth Symposium of Red Renta Básica, Spain’s BIEN Affiliate, will be held at the Faculty
of Political Science of the University of Santiago de Compostela
on Thursday November 30 and Friday December 1, 2006. The provisional program
includes roundtables on “20 Years Arguing for Basic Income: Philosophical
Assessment and Perspectives”; “20 Years Arguing for Basic Income: Political
Assessment and Perspectives”, and “Basic Income Assessed by Galician Social
Actors”. For further information and a list of speakers see
www.redrentabasica.org
New York City, 6-8 May 2007: The basic income guarantee in international
perspective
Within the framework of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University (New
York City), Richard Caputo organizes a session on “The basic income guarantee
in international perspective” . The Conference is
scheduled for 6-8 May 2007 at the Sheraton New York .
Interested persons should contact Richard Caputo at <caputo@yu.edu>
An official call for papers has been released, and can
be downloaded at http://www.yu.edu/Wurzweiler/CallForPapers_SaveTheDate.pdf
12. RECENT EVENTS
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: International Seminar on Poverty and Vulnerability
September 4-6, 2006
BIEN reports, this conference on "Development and Vulnerability: Outlooks
for Resuming Development in Southern Countries", was organized by the Instituto de Economia at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Some prominent
experts on the issue of poverty in developing countries, such as Pierre Salama (University of Paris XIII and author of the recent
book "Le Défi des inégalités")
and Joachim Von Braun (director of the International Food Policy Research
Institute in Washington DC), had been invited to analyze the situation of
Brazil. The Brazilian Minister of Social Development, Patrus
Ananias, also gave a speech on Sept. 4. Anti-poverty
programs, including basic income, were thoroughly discussed by one panel on
Tuesday 5 September. In her presentation Lenas Lavinas (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) focused on
the regressive impact of
For further details see for instance http://www.ufrj.br/detalha_noticia.php?codnoticia=31
See also Vanderborght's interview in the Newspaper O'Popular:
http://www.uclouvain.be/cps/ucl/doc/etes/documents/Interview_OPopular_Sept2006.pdf
Cordoba, Spain: 5th International Conference on Exclusion and Human Rights,
October 13-15, 2006
According to BIEN, the organizers of this event state that “it is essential for
an Association that is fighting for the defense of human rights to analyze the
mechanisms that generate and perpetuate the situations of poverty and social
exclusion in today’s societies. In view of the daily drama of millions of
people starving, being forced to abandon their places because of wars and
suffering the effects of certain supposed models of development, it is
necessary, more than ever, a claim for an effective consideration of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Speakers include Federico Mayor Zaragoza (former President of UNESCO) and Daniel Raventós (Universitat de
Barcelona and President of Red Renta Básica), who gave a lecture on the scope of Basic Income
with regard to the problems that will be raised during the Conference. For
further information, contact cordoba@apdha.org
13. NEW LINKS
The Campaign for Universal Inheritance
This UK website proposes a one-time basic capital grant financed out of
inheritance taxes for Britain for the purpose of creating greater equality of
opportunity. It can be found on the web at: http://www.universal-inheritance.org.
Wikipedia on Basic Income
Wikipedia is a free, on-line encyclopedia written by its readers. Anyone can write
or edit a Wikipedia article. The sight now contains a short article on basic
income, some of which seems to be taken from the USBIG site. If you want to
read or improve this article, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income.
Global Justice Movement:
An article on the global justice movement website, entitled “transforming”
money discusses universal basic income as a part of monetary form. Go to
http://www.seek2know.net/money2.html for a direct link to the article, or to http://www.globaljusticemovement.net/admin/articles.htm
for the global justice movement.
14. LINKS AND OTHER INFO
For links to dozens of BIG websites around the world, go to
http://www.usbig.net/links.html. These links are to any website with
information about BIG, but USBIG does not necessarily endorse their content or
their agendas.
The USBIG Network Newsletter
Editor: Karl Widerquist
Research: Paul Nollen
Copyediting: Mike Murray and the USBIG Committee
The U.S. Basic Income Guarantee (USBIG) Network publishes
this newsletter. The Network is a discussion group on 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.
You may copy and circulate articles from this newsletter, but please mention
the source and include a link to http://www.usbig.net. If you know any BIG
news; 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 and the USBIG website are gladly
welcomed.
Thanks,
-Karl Widerquist, USBIG Coordinator. Karl@Widerquist.com