USBIG
NewsFlash Vol. 14, No. 67 Winter 2013
The
USBIG NewsFlash is both the newsletter of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee
(USBIG) Network and the U.S. edition of the Basic Income Earth NetworkÕs
NewsFlash. The USBIG Network (www.usbig.net) promotes the discussion of the
basic income guarantee (BIG) in the United States. BIG is a policy that would
unconditionally guarantee at least a subsistence-level income for everyone. If
you would like to be added to or removed from this list please go to: http://www.usbig.net/newsletters.php.
For questions, contact the editor, Karl Widerquist <Karl@Widerquist.com.>
2. Special
Report (opinion): European Citizens initiative: A historical campaign is
born
3. Basic
Income News from Around the World
7. Blogs
8. New
Links
9. Videos
While
voters of the United States were loudly debating gun control, the deficit, the
debt, taxes, immigrant rights, the filibuster law, health care, and a host of
other issues, the Obama administration quietly did something that would have
been unthinkable a few decades ago. It ordered the military to allow women to
serve in combat units. Other changes that would have been unthinkable a few
decades ago also seem to be underway. Two states (Colorado and Washington)
voted to legalize marijuana. Nine states now have same-sex marriage, when as
late as 1976, the Democratic National Convention refused to pass a resolution
doing no more than recognizing homosexuals as human beings. After thousands of
years of prohibit, Britain and France seem to be on the verge of legalizing
same sex marriage at virtually the same time.
Big changes often feel far away until they. Few people in 1926 could have
guessed that the United States was within ten years of introducing a
near-universal system of old age pensions that would eventual almost eliminate
poverty among the elderly. Few people in 1856 could have guessed that the
United States was within ten years of the end of slavery.
Supporters of the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) should remember this lesson. BIG
is far from mainstream politics in America today. But there are many people who
want to see a fairer distribution of property and who would be interested in a
new and better way to make it happen. If BIG remains a
viable, well-thought-out option, the possibility that might suddenly become a political
reality remains.
-Karl Widerquist, waiting for Proteus to roll down Napoleon Avenue, Lundi Gras, 2013
By Stanislas Jourdan, January 21, 2013
After an unsuccessful first attempt, the European CitizensÕ Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income finally got
accepted by the European Commission, thus opening the possibility for the
organizers from 14 European countries to start collecting their signatures of
support. Hereby starts a 12-month European-wide campaign for basic
income in Europe, with the goal of collecting one million signatures.
ECI UBI 2013The citizens committee members got it right not to give up after
the EU commission rejected the first attempt, back in september.
Indeed, the second attempt was finally accepted, the citizens
committee members were noticed on the 14th of January in a communication by
Klaus Sambor, the head organizer of the initiative.
Under the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) new procedure, the EU commission
must certify that the goal of the initiative submitted by citizens falls under
its competences and attribution before citizens start collecting signatures, so
that they donÕt do it for nothing.
Following the first rejection by the EU commission, which stated at the time
that the proposal Òmanifestly fall outside the framework of the CommissionÕs
powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of
implementing the TreatiesÓ, the citizens committee decided in Munich to keep on
working on a second attempt, with the main objective of having it accepted by
the EU commission.
Citizens met again in Firenze (Italy) and, after discussion and consensus,
submitted a new proposal – the one that just got accepted by the
commission. In order to meet the commissionÕs requirements, the new text
(available here on the websiteÕs commission), does not demand a Òlegal actÓ,
but instead requests the commission to explore the feasibility of a European basic
income. What fiscal harmonization would be necessary for implementing a basic
income in the EU? What would a basic income imply for other social policies and
labor rights? These questions must find clear answers. Hence the new title of
the initiative: ÒUnconditional Basic Income (UBI) – Exploring a pathway
towards emancipatory welfare conditions in the EUÓ.
This can be done by organizing conferences, calling for
studies, giving subsidies and any other means the commission has. Long
story short, weÕre asking the commission to make a serious case for the
implementation of basic income in Europe, and to feed the debate on how to do
it in a harmonized way inside the European Union. As we expected, this request could hardly be rejected by the commission.
Now the next step is to have the online signature collection system be
authenticated as ÔsecureÕ by the EU authorities, so that people can directly
sign the initiative online. The ECI citizens committee decided to use the
system and servers provided by the EU Commission in Luxembourg, which implies a
delay.
In other words, citizens cannot sign online yet, but of course we will let them
know as soon as they can through our facebook page.
If we collect more than one million signatures, then the commission will offer
a hearing to the organizers at the European Parliament in Brussels. The EU
commission will then have to accept or refuse the demand expressed by citizens,
and give justifications for it.
We admit, our demand is very modest – and the results highly
hypothetical. But one has to start somewhere. In France, the ECI has inspired
and empowered groups of citizens who are now working hard to create a broader
social movement. Being at the front line of this, I can assure you: nothing
would have happened without such a challenge like the ECI.
And this is why I completely agree with Philippe Van Parijs, who said in a
message of support to the organizers: ÒWhatever the exact wording and whatever
the number of signatures that will ultimately gathered, it is good to seize
this new opportunity for spreading the idea of basic income far beyond the
circles in which it has been thought about so far. The challenge presented by
the mobilization of a civil society spread over 27 countries and speaking 23
different official languages is huge. But is is
definitely worth taking on.Ó
The road may be long, but the way is clearly free. LetÕs make it a historical
campaign!
Stanislas Jourdan, editor
in chief at Ouishare.net and member of the citizens committee for the European
citizens initiative on unconditional basic income.
http://binews.org/2013/01/opinion-european-citizens-initiative-a-historical-campaign-has-born/
[USBIG – December 2012]
IndiaÕs ruling coalition government suddenly and unexpectedly announce a major move in the direction of a basic income
guarantee by replacing many transfer and expanding them into a cash transfer
program. The government will begin phasing-in the program on January 1, 2013.
Details are sketchy at this point. According the New York Times, ÒThe plan is to replace existing pensions,
scholarships and subsidies on household items by directly disbursing cash to
the beneficiariesÕ bank accounts. It could apply to 720 million people.Ó
A group of private NGOs has been conducting a pilot project on basic income in
India for over a year. It is unknown the extent to which this project
influenced the governmentÕs decision. But, according to Guy Standing, one of
the principle researchers on the project, members of their team have been
requested for television interviews and newspaper articles are pouring out
about the new decision.
For more on the issue see:
Bal, Hartosh Singh, ÒWill
Vote for Rupees,Ó The New York Times,
December 7, 2012
http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/indias-cash-transfer-for-the-poor-is-an-electoral-gambit/?ref=opinion
[USBIG – January 2012]
Economist, James M. Buchanan died on January 9, 2013. Most famous as one of the founders of the
Òpublic choiceÓ field in economics, James Buchanan won the Noble Prize in
economics in 1986. Although he was known as a Òfree marketÓ economist, he was
one of several Noble Prize-winning economists who endorsed the basic income
guarantee (BIG). Excerpts from his 1997 article, ÒCan Democracy Promote the
General Welfare?Ó (in which he makes a public-choice
argument for BIG) will appear in Basic
Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, due out on Wiley-Blackwell
later this year.
A
New York Times obituary of him is online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/business/economy/james-m-buchanan-economic-scholar-dies-at-93.html?_r=0
His
Wikipedia page is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Buchanan
[BIEN – January 2013]
Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge was founded on October 12, 2012 to promote basic income in Norway. The organizationÕs main purpose is to inform the Norwegian population on universal, unconditional basic income guarantee (BIG) in hopes of getting BIG on the political agenda. The organization will promote BIG for all Norwegian citizens and one that is large enough to cover all necessary living expenses.
á Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge has already made news or organized events in Norway:
á October 19: The news magazine, NY TID, ran a story about the startup of the organization.
á November 2: Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge organized a lecture on BIG at a Globalization Conference.
á November 12: Network for Social Entrepreneurship invited Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge to a dialogue in Parliament.
á November 24: Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge organized a lecture at the Romsas volunteer center for ÒFree Philosophical ForumÓ on BIG in a green perspective.
á December 5: Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge gave a brief introduction to BIG at a ÒGreen DrinksÓ at Lillehammer.
á December 9: Organizers of Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge were interviewed in NA24. According to the editor, it was read 63,370 times within a few days.
á December 13. Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge had a lecture at ÒLitteraturhusetÓ. The title of the lecture was ÒBIG - In a green perspective.Ó
In the coming year Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge hopes to get BIG on the agenda for the Norwegian parliamentary
elections scheduled for September 9th, 2013. Otherwise Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge will
continue to organized lectures and workshops on BIG.
The board of Borgerlonn-BIEN Norge, from left: Ole A. Seifert, Ali Reza Nouri, Lexander Wist, Sjur C. Papazian, Espen X. Leinaes, Anja Askeland (Chair) and Grete Antona Nilsen (Vice Chair).
[USBIG – January 2013]
A new Massachusetts-based non-profit, called GiveDirectly, transfers donations to poor Kenyans with no
conditions attached whatsoever. According to GiveDirectly,
their model of giving is based on a simple, four step process: Ò1. You donate
through our webpage. 2. We locate poor households in Kenya. 3. We transfer your
donation electronically to a recipient's cell phone. 4. The recipient uses the
transfer to pursue his or her own goals.Ó No conditions or restrictions are
imposed on the recipient. The nonprofit was founded in 2008
by four people who were then graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Paul Niehaus, Michael Faye, Rohit Wanchoo, and Jeremy Shapiro.
GiveDriectly went public in 2012, and it has recently
received a grant to expand beyond Kenya.
According to a recent story in the Atlantic
Monthly, initial results of the transfers appear extremely positive.
Although the popular stereotype of the poor is that they will spend money they
receive on vices such as alcohol and prostitution, Òrecipients are spending
their payments mostly on food and home improvements that can vastly improve
quality of life, such as installing a weatherproof tin roof. Some families have
invested in profit-bearing businesses, such as chicken-rearing, agriculture, or
the vending of clothes, shoes, or charcoal.Ó
Although the GiveDirectly website makes no mention of
basic income, the organizers are inspired by, Òa wealth of evidence on the positive
impacts of cash transfers,Ó and their values are similar to those usually
behind support of basic income. For example, their website compares their
values to what they call Òindustry standardÓ values (i.e. values of most
charities working in Africa; under the value of Òrespect,Ó the website reads,
ÒIndustry standard: Empower experts to decide what is best for the poor based
on an assessment of needs or on personal ideology. Our standard: Empower the
poor to set their own priorities.Ó
GiveDirectlyÕs website is online at:
http://www.givedirectly.org/
The two following news stories have additional info on GiveDirectly:
Goldstein, Dana, ÒCan 4 Economists Build the Most Economically Efficient
Charity Ever?Ó the Atlantic Monthly,
Dec 21 2012, 9:51 AM ET 4
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/12/can-4-economists-build-the-most-economically-efficient-charity-ever/266510/
Yglesias, Matthew, ÒFighting Poverty By Giving Poor
People MoneyÓ Slate Magazine, Dec.
25, 2012, writes, ÒI've come to think that directly transfering
[sic] cash money to people in need is the most underrated tool around for
fighting poverty.Ó
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/12/25/give_directly_the_new_charity_that_fights_money_by_giving_poor_people_money.html
[BI News – December 2012]
The German television show, ÒBread for the World,Ó on the public-service German television broadcaster, ZDF, recently
called for donations to support Otjivero's BIG pilot
project in Namibia. Requests for donations are not unusual in the pre-Christmas
period, but a request to support Basic Income is unusual on major German TV.
Broadcasters called it Òa beautiful project.Ó A video of the show, in German is
at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocwaFwyIaIM
The ÒBread for the WorldÓ website is online at:
http://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/so-helfen-sie/ihre-spendenmoeglichkeiten/spendengala.html
[USBIG – December 2012]
The German Pirate Party, which has endorsed BIG in recent
elections, has made it official by producing an official economic program
including a basic income guarantee. According to the program, ÒFor us, work is
not just a commodity, but also always the personal effort of an individual.
Therefore, it is an imperative of human dignity that every human is free to
decide what career they want to pursue and what work they want to accept, but
also, that this effort is appreciated correspondingly. The technological
development allows that not every monotone, little meaningful or even dangerous
task must be done by human hands. We see this as a great step forward that we
welcome and want to advance further. Therefore, we consider the pursuit of
absolute full employment as neither timely nor socially desirable. Instead, we
want to commit ourselves to ensuring that all humans receive a just part of the
overall prosperity and will for this purpose examine the introduction of a
unconditional basic income guarantee.Ó The program was adopted at the party
convention on November 24-25, 2012 in Bochum, Germany.
For more on the Pirate PartyÕs economic program (in English), go to:
http://en.thecitizen.de/2012/11/27/the-departure-from-the-dogma-work-pirate-party/
[Wolfgang MŸller – BI News – December 2012]
The case of Ralph Boes has gained a lot of public
attention in Germany recently. Boes, a longtime
beneficiary of the German social support system ÒALG-IIÓ - also known as ÒHartzIVÓ--and an activist against the sanctions of this
system, provoked the responsible German state agency until he was sanctioned at
the beginning of November. His benefits were reduced by 90 percent, from
Û374.00 per month to only Û37.40 per month. With only this much left, he saw
himself as forced to starve.
Boes refused any private help in order to demonstrate
the consequences of the sanctions policy. In 2012, Germany imposed sanctions on
more than 1,000,000 times. This number represents an increase of about 38
percent compared to 2009. In more than two-thirds of these cases, the reason
for the sanction is failure to appear.
After 26 days, the authority recognized a formal error, and Boes
received the full amount of his benefits again.
More information about Boes can be found here:
http://wir-sind-boes.de/presse.html
More information about rising sanctions can be found here:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/neuer-rekord-jobcenter-verhaengen-mehr-als-eine-million-hartz-iv-sanktionen-1.1527783
An article about Boes in
English can be found here:
http://www.vice.com/read/hunger-strike-against-the-welfare-state
[USBIG – Feb 2012]
The Alaska Permanent Fund has increased by more than 7% in
the first six months of its fiscal year, which runs from July to July. The fund
is the financial base for AlaskaÕs Permanent Fund Divided, a small and variable
basic income for all Alaska residents. The state of Alaska deposits a small
amount of its oil revenue into the fund, which is invested in stocks, bonds,
and other assets around the world. Each year, each Alaskan receives a share of
the returns to that fund in the form of a cash dividend. Dividends have been
declining gradually since the financial crises began to affect dividends in
October of 2009. Usually between $1000 and $2000 per person per year, the
dividend was only $878 in October of 2012. If this yearÕs performance
continues, the dividend will start going up again in 2013. According to the Alaska Dispatch, the fund rose by
4.6% in the first quarter of the fiscal year and 2.7% in the second quarter for
a total of 7.3% this year. That would be a solid increase even if the fund were
to stagnate for the rest of the year. The fund is now at an all-time high of $44.6
billion.
For more on the fundÕs recent performance, see: ÒPermanent Fund is off to a
roaring start this fiscal year,Ó Alaska
Dispatch, Jan 24, 2013: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/permanent-fund-roaring-start-fiscal-year
[BICN - Jenna van Draanen - November 2012]
Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party in Canada and an MP in British Columbia recently endorsed basic income. The endorsement of a ÒGuaranteed Livable IncomeÓ came through a press release on October 17, the United Nations (UN) International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. MayÕs press release reminds her audience that the Green Party is the only political party in Canada to advocate for a basic income as a means to eradicate poverty. The endorsement occurring on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an apt response to the UN resolution for all member states to create and implement concrete strategies to eliminate poverty.
More about her remarks can be found online at: http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2012/10/18/elizabeth-may-calls-for-a-guaranteed-livable-income-in-canada/
[CIT
– January 2013]
At the Great Lakes Commons Gathering at Notre Dame University in the United
States last October James Quilligan, who has recently
spoken at a series of seminars in London, proposed a Great Lakes Commons Trust
and Community Bank. ÔBioregional trusts are an emerging horizon in
environmental sustainability and financial stability for the people of a common
resource area. É The purpose of a bioregional trust is to safeguard a resource
for future generations. Just as some communities across the world have become
adept at preserving, creating and replenishing their local commons, bioregional
trusts can also apply the principles of subsidiarity, polycentricity
and inclusive decision-making to the protection and production of resources
that are shared on a broader scale. Integrative commons management contributes
not only to a clean and healthy biological environment, but also to peopleÕs
social well-being. In addition, a bioregional trust
may generate funds which could be used for ecological
restoration as well as a basic income for the people of a region.
For more on James QuilliganÕs proposal, go to:
http://thefinancelab.ning.com/events/meetings-with-remarkable-commoners-james-quilligan-finance-lab-ch?xg_source=activity
[Ian Orton
– BIEN – December 2012]
In a recent
interview, Senator Eduardo Suplicy reiterated the
case for a basic income (BI) in Brazil, underlining that is not only desirable but something that is practically attainable now. At
present, the BI in Brazil still exists in a truncated form as the Bolsa Familia conditional cash transfer (covering 25% of the
population). Suplicy was the architect of the 2004
law that established the BI in Brazil. This law was charged with introducing
the BI there gradually, with the Bolsa Familia being the first step in the process. Suplicy argues that that the time has come for the Bolsa Familia to be
extended to cover all Brazilians. He
calculates that covering all Brazilians with a modest BI of USD$35 a month
would require an eight-fold increase in the budget of USD$80 billion (4% of GDP)
currently assigned to the Bolsa Familia. In spite of such fiscal challenges, he
believes this is possible given the prosperity the world is seeing and the
potential of natural resources as an additional funding source.
For more on
this issue see:
Nagarajan,
Rema, ÒBrazil: Imagine a World Free of Hunger and
Need,Ó the Times of India, September
6, 2012.
http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/brazil-economy-dreaming-world-free-hunger-and-need-Eduardo-Suplicy
[USBIG – February 2013]
Summer School by Professor Stuart White (Oxford University) on: Basic income: communism, liberalism and republicanism
When: 18-20 July 2013
Where: University of Minho, Braga (Portugal)
The School will consider the ethical arguments surrounding the idea of unconditional basic income, focusing specifically on arguments appealing to interpretations of communism, liberalism and republicanism. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these arguments? How successfully do they meet the main ethical objections to basic income, including the objection, itself derivable from within currents of socialist, liberal and republican thought, that basic income is unfair because it allows some who are able to work to live off the labor of their fellow citizens?
Fee: 50 Euros
Inscription: Please send a short letter of motivation and CV by e-mail to Roberto Merrill (nrbmerrill@gmail.com) by 15 April 2013.
This event is organized by the Political Theory Group of CEHUM, University of Minho (Braga).
Information about registration, accommodation and travelling will soon be available online at the school's website:
http://basicincomeschool.weebly.com/
[USBIG – January 2013]
According to Vereniging Basisinkomen
(VB, the BIEN Affiliate in the Netherlands) the 2013 World Social Forum, taking
place in Tunis from March 23rd to 28th, will include a collaborative workshop
on Basic Income. According to VB, this workshop could be the occasion to show
how an unconditional basic income reduces poverty, emancipates individuals from
an alienating productivist economic system, and gives
them the means to get more involved in their communities.
For more information, see the story on the VB website: http://basisinkomen.nl/wp/ai1ec_event/2013-world-social-forum/?instance_id=
And the World Social Forum webpage for the workshop:
http://www.fsm2013.org/en/node/1862
Three well-known philosophers debated taxing resources and distributing the proceeds in cash (a basic income guarantee by another name). All three of the authors support the idea. They debated the details of how best to implement it. The debate included a proposal by Paula Casal, responses from Hillel Steiner and Thomas Pogge (both of whom had written proposals along similar lines in the past), and a rejoinder by Casal. The four articles are:
Casal, Paula (2011) ÒGlobal Taxes on Natural Resources,Ó Journal of Moral Philosophy 8, pp. 307–327
Abstract
Thomas PoggeÕs Global Resources Dividend relies on a flat tax on the use of natural resources to fund the eradication of world poverty. Hillel SteinerÕs Global Fund taxes the full rental value of owned natural resources and distributes the proceeds equally. The paper compares the Dividend and the Fund and defends the Global Share, a novel proposal that taxes either use or ownership, does so (when possible) progressively, and distributes the revenue according to a prioritarian rather than a sufficientarian or egalitarian principle.
Steiner, Hillel (2011) ÒThe Global Fund: A Reply to Casal,Ó Journal of Moral Philosophy 8 328–334
Abstract
The Global Fund is a mechanism for the global application of the Left Libertarian conception of distributive justice. As a form of luck egalitarianism, this conception confers upon each person an entitlement to an equal share of all natural resource values, since natural resources – broadly, geographical sites – are objects for the production of which no person is responsible. Owners of these sites, i.e. states, are liable to a 100% Global Fund tax on their unimproved value: that is, their gross market value minus the value of the improvements added to them by human effort. It is argued that the revenue yielded by this tax would be correspondingly reduced by a further tax on the use of natural resources.
Pogge, Thomas (2011) ÒAllowing the Poor to Share the Earth,Ó Journal of Moral Philosophy 8, pp. 335–352
Abstract
Two of the greatest challenges facing humanity are environmental degradation and the persistence of poverty. Both can be met by instituting a Global Resources Dividend (GRD) that would slow pollution and natural-resource depletion while collecting funds to avert poverty worldwide. Unlike Hillel SteinerÕs Global Fund, which is presented as a fully just regime governing the use of planetary resources, the GRD is meant as merely a modest but widely acceptable and therefore realistic step toward justice. Paula Casal has set forth various ways in which this step might be improved upon. Solid counter-arguments can be given to her criticisms and suggestions. But to specify the best (effective and realizable) design of an appropriate global institutional mechanism with some confidence, economists, political scientists, jurists, environmental scientists, and activists would need to be drawn in to help think through the immense empirical and political complexities posed by this urgent task.
Casal, Paula (2011) ÒRejoinder to Pogge and Steiner,Ó Journal of Moral Philosophy 8, pp. 353–365
No abstract
The four papers are available (for a fee) on the Journal of Moral PhilosophyÕs website: http://www.brill.com/journal-moral-philosophy
The Georgist News has special offers on two books that came out last year about the Alaska Permanent Fund (AlaskaÕs small basic income). Each book is reduced from $100 to $65. The books are:
Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) 2012. AlaskaÕs Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its
Suitability as a Model, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) 2012. Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform around the
World, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
The special offer can be found online at:
http://georgist.com/9-rsf-news-special-offers-on-alaska-permanent-fund-books/
[USBIG – December 2012]
Mike Konczal, of the Roosevelt Institute, begins as
article in The American Prospect,
writing, ÒNow that Obamacare—the largest
expansion of the social-safety net in the last 60 years—is safe, what's
next for the liberal economic project?Ó He suggest
basic income as one of two strategies that could answer that question. Byron
York carries on the same conversation in the
Washington Examiner.
Konczal, Mike, ÒThe Great Society's Next Frontier,Ó the American Prospect, November 19, 2012
http://prospect.org/article/great-societys-next-frontier
York, Byron, ÒAfter victory, liberals want income redistribution,Ó the Washington Examiner, November 26,
2012
http://washingtonexaminer.com/after-victory-liberals-want-income-redistribution/article/2514401#.ULTsb4WFbIp
[USBIG – December 2012]
This article argues that the income gap is a source of the BritainÕs financial
weakness, and suggests Citizens Income as part of the solution.
Crocker, Geoff, ÒOpinion: So whatÕs really wrong with the economy?Ó Liberal Democratic Voice, December 10th,
2012
http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-51-32053.html
[USBIG – December 2012]
Abstract: We challenge the view, typically assumed by advocates of
unconditional basic income (UBI), that its administration is uncontroversial.
We identify three essential tasks which, from the point of view of the
administrative cybernetics literature, any income maintenance policy must
accomplish: defining criteria of eligibility, determining who meets such
criteria and disbursing payments to those found to be eligible. Building on the
work of Christopher Hood, we contrast two alternative ways in which the design
of a UBI might apply the principle of Ôusing bureaucracy sparinglyÕ to the
performance of each of these three tasks. Relating these alternative designs to
the politics of basic income, we show a correspondence between contrasting
senses of using bureaucracy sparingly and ÔredistributiveÕ and ÔaggregativeÕ
UBI models.
Wispelaere, Jurgen De and Lindsay Stirton, ÒThe
Politics of Unconditional Basic Income: Bringing Bureaucracy Back In,Ó Political Studies, Early View published
online November 26, 2012.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.01004.x/abstract
[Wolfgang MŸller – BI News]
The Austrian newspaper dieStandard.at published a report on the basic income
pilot project in India, organised by the All India
Federation of Self-Employment Women's Associations (SEWA) and financed by
UNICEF.
DieStandard.at: ÒArmen-Grundeinkommen in der Testphase,Ó DieStandard.at,
December 26, 2012
The report is in German and can be found here:
http://diestandard.at/1355460457667/Armen-Grundeinkommen-in-der-Testphase
[BIEN – January 2013]
The first issue of the CitizenÕs Income
Newsletter (CIN) for 2013 is now available. The CIN is the newsletter of
the CitizenÕs Income Trust (CIT), BIENÕs affiliate in the United Kingdom. This
issue includes an editorial, a research article, entitled ÒA rule-of-thumb basic income model
for the UK, with and without an earnings/income disregardÓ (see below for more
information), news, a report from the BIEN Congress of 2012, a research note,
entitled, Òa French microsimulation,Ó and book
reviews of Simon Birnbaum, Basic income
Reconsidered: Social justice, liberalism, and the demands of equality
(reprinted on BI News) and Robert Skidelsky and
Edward Skidelsky, How
Much is Enough? The Love of Money, and the Case for the Good Life
(reprinted on BI News).
CitizenÕs Income Trust, CitizenÕs Income
Newsletter, Issue 1 2013
http://www.citizensincome.org/resources/Newsletter20131.htm
For more information about the CIN, contact the director of the CIT, Malcolm Torry at citizens-income@lse.ac.uk.
[BIEN
January 2013]
This article argues that the United KingdomÕs proposed ÒUniversal CreditÓ fails
largely because it fails to be universal enough. If it was structured more like
the UKÕs child benefit system, it could be more effective and more of a step
toward a CitizenÕs (or Basic) Income.
CitizenÕs Income Trust, ÒEditorial,Ó CitizenÕs Income Newsletter, Issue 1 2013.
http://www.citizensincome.org/resources/Newsletter20131.htm
This book argues
against the change of income distribution in the last decades (Òthe great redistribution
from bottom to topÓ), but it also reject the basic income as a solution.
Flassbeck, Heiner, Friederike Spiecker, Volker Meinhardt and Dieter Vesper (2012), Frankfurt, Westend. Irrweg Grundeinkommen: Die gro§e Umverteilung von unten nach oben
muss beendet warden [The Basic Income Aberration: The Great Redistribution from
Bottom to Top Must be Ended], Frankfurt, Germany: Westend.
A critical review of this book entitled Kein Irrweg [no abberation] is online
in German is at:
http://www.grundeinkommen.de/content/uploads/2012/11/kumpmann_rezension-zu-flassbeck-et-al_15nov2012.pdf
A translation of that review into English is online at:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/28/18726623.php
[USBIG – Dec 2012]
In this article, James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space
Studies, endorse a fee-and-dividend approach to greenhouse gas emissions
reduction. This approach includes a small basic income.
Hansen, James, ÒStorms of My GrandchildrenÕs Opa.Ó
Columbia.edu, December 13, 2012
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20121213_StormsOfOpa.pdf
This op-ed piece argues that a good solution to global warming is to cap carbon emissions, auction off the rights to them, and distribute the revenue as a dividend (sort of a carbon-based basic income).
Howard, Michael W. ÒWant the public to heed global warming threats? Cap carbon emissions, pay dividends to everyone,Ó Bangor Daily News, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/12/11/opinion/want-the-public-to-heed-global-warming-threats-cap-carbon-emissions-pay-dividends-to-everyone/
[USBIG – December 2012]
Summary, ÒA low risk politically acceptable and practical way to resolve the
world debt crisis without sudden or radical change to the worldÕs financial
system is presented. It is worked out for conditions in New Zealand. Applicable
to any economy, it includes the introduction of Universal Basic Income (UBI),
Debt Jubilee Income (DJI), and ÒQuantitative EasingÓ and takes non-debtorsÕ
interests equitably into account. Three administrative institutions are
introduced: A national debt management authority (NDMA), A national public
development fund (NPDF), A national public investment trust
account (NPITA). The UBI and the DJI are structured to avoid inflation
by matching incomes with the physical and human resources available to the
economy.Ó
In English, with French translation available.
Manning, Lowell, ÒThe Manning plan for permanent debt reduction in the
national economy,Ó Integrated
development.org. September 11, 2012
http://www.integrateddevelopment.org/manningplan20120913.htm
[USBIG – December 2012]
Summary, ÒThis paper offers a practical plan to resolve the worldÕs problem of
exponential debt growth and to control inflation. The plans are based on a
revision of the well-known Fisher Equation of exchange enabling it to take
account of interest-bearing debt. They are designed to ensure that no low or middle income
group in the community is worse off than it is now. The plan involves
introducing a guaranteed minimum income (GMI) for each person in the country to
replace the existing welfare system. The GMI can be funded on an
income-positive basis by phasing out existing welfare transfer payments, by
realigning existing tax thresholds and by introducing a wealth tax of 1% of all
net assets. This paper shows that a
fair result is produced using a flat tax of 41.5% on all earned income.Ó
In English, with French translation available.
Manning, Lowell, ÒHow to introduce a guaranteed minimum
income in New Zealand,Ó Integrated
development.org. August 8, 2012
http://www.integrateddevelopment.org/lowellgmi.htm
[BIEN – January 2013]
This article demonstrates how a BI scheme can be designed to fulfill a set of
stated objectives according to given priorities, such as redistribution,
poverty prevention, work incentives, and so on. It provides a simple, illustrative
model, with partial and full BIs set at proportions 25 percent and 50 percent
respectively of mean income. It finds that there is a
variety of potential levels for the partial BIs without increasing the standard
rate of income tax. This offers a remarkable degree of flexibility. And it
demonstrates that even fairly generous BI schemes are economically feasible in
the UK.
Miller, Anne G. ÒA rule-of-thumb basic income model for the UK, with and
without an earnings/income disregard: Design and cost your own Basic Income
scheme,Ó CitizenÕs Income Newsletter,
Issue 1 2013.
http://www.citizensincome.org/resources/Newsletter20131.htm
This article reports on and discusses the political implications of a recent publication by the Center for Global Development, Rodr’guez, JosŽ Pedro L., R. Morales, and Francisco J. Monaldi ÒDirect Distribution of Oil Revenues in Venezuela: A Viable Alternative?Ó (see above). Both articles discuss direct distribution of VenezuelaÕs oil revenue to its citizens in cash.
O'Grady, Mary Anastasia , ÒHow to Break the Tyranny of Oil Wealth: If Ch‡vez believes the nation's oil billions belong to the people, why not give it to them directly?Ó The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2013
[USBIG – January 2013]
ÒAs ideas of employment become more obscure and desperate, 2013 is the perfect time to ask what it means to live without it.Ó This article mentions the campaign for a citizens income in response to increasing job insecurity and low pay.
Power, Nina ÒWhat might a world without work look like?,Ó The Guardian,
Thursday 3 January 2013:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/03/world-without-work
In this paper, Pedro L. Rodr’guez, JosŽ R. Morales, and Francisco J. Monaldi ask whether the direct and automatic distribution of oil rents to citizens is a viable option in Venezuela. Government accountability there has weakened as oil revenues have been diverted more and more to toward discretionary spending channels. Would direct distribution improve accountability? What do citizens think about the approach? The authors confront these questions, focusing on the fiscal contract between citizens and their government.
Rodr’guez, JosŽ Pedro L., R. Morales, and Francisco J. Monaldi (2012) ÒDirect Distribution of Oil Revenues in Venezuela: A Viable Alternative?Ó Center for Global Development Working Paper no. 306, September 14
http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1426486
[USBIG – December 2012]
This commentary argues that Alaska should change the formula
for calculating its yearly Permanent Fund Dividend (AlaskaÕs basic income) to
create more stable dividend payments.
Widerquist ÒCommentary: Let's change the way Alaska
Permanent Fund pays dividends,Ó the
Alaska Dispatch, December 5, 2012
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/lets-change-way-alaska-permanent-fund-pays-dividends
Gary Flomenhoft, ÒQE3 PLUS!Ó Vermont Commons, Wed, 12/05/2012
[USBIG – December 2012]
This blog on Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3) argues that a temporary basic income
would be much more equitable and effective way to stimulate the U.S. economy.
Flomenhoft finds that the $85 billion per month the Fed is buying mortgage debt
and treasury bonds could finance a basic income of $270 per person per month or
$3240 per year. ItÕs online at:
http://www.vtcommons.org/blog/qe3-plus
[USBIG – December 2012]
Edited by Johan Nygren, ÒBipedalJoe,Ó
this website has a large number of articles related to basic income. ItÕs
online at:
http://cod-democracy.blogspot.com/
You can contact the editor, Johan Nygren
<bipedaljoe@gmail.com>
[USBIG – December 2012]
This website describes itself as providing, ÒSelf-financing, ecological, sustainable, local integrated development projects for the worldÕs poorÓ and Òa model for development with creative practical solutions to poverty reduction.Ó The website includes several papers on debt reform, some of which involve a basic income.
http://www.integrateddevelopment.org/index.html
Staatsbuergersteuer is a tax
system that incorporates a basic income. Joachim Mitschke
and Bernd Starkloff are the coauthors of Staatsbuergersteuer, which released its first publication
more than 40 years ago. The system incorporates the concept of Buergergeld, a negative income tax, comparable to Basic
Income along with other ideas. Their website (available only in German), is
online at:
http://www.staatsbuergersteuer.de.
An English-language abstract of the system is online at: http://www.staatsbuergersteuer.de/abstract.htm
For more information contact: b.starkloff@gmx.de
OpenOil is an energy and transparency consultancy based in Berlin.
They are modelling a policy proposal to model a
universal cash distribution in 20-30 countries around the world to replace
fossil fuel subsidies and are looking for research partners at field level, to
help increase the stock of information about current energy use patterns.
For more information visit http://openoil.net/current-projects/dividends/ or contact stefanie.heerwig@openoil.net
[USBIG – January 2013]
The website of Young Greens (the youth and student branch of the Green Party in the United Kingdom) includes a discussion of basic income. According to the website, The Green Party would introduce a CitizenÕs Income that would:
1. Guarantee that everyoneÕs basic needs are covered by a non means-tested weekly payment, as of right.
2. Replace benefits such as Job SeekerÕs Allowance, as well as replacing personal tax-free allowances with a payment which is worth much more.
3. Ensure that anyone who takes paid work will be better off for doing so.
4. Make working part-time an option for many people who would prefer it, but who are currently discouraged from it.
5. Put an end to demeaning benefits procedures.
6. Act as a safety-net to those considering self-employment, so that they have less to fear if their business isnÕt successful.
ItÕs online at:
http://younggreens.greenparty.org.uk/AboutUs/Policy/CitizensIncome
[USBIG - Janaury 2013]
This TEDx Talk discusses BIG under the name, Citizen Dividend: ÒWhy canÕt Nigeria be like Norway? With 20 years experience in and around the oil industry journalist and consultant Johnny West claims a simple policy tool, that can switch the situation of countries in which natural resources are produced and which, as a consequence, suffer from conflicts, war and corruption.Ó
West, Johnny: "Give It Back! Oil and the Smart Citizen
Dividend," TEDx Talk, Berlin 2011: http://www.tedxberlin.de/tedxberlin-2011-johnny-west-give-it-back-oil-and-the-smart-citizen-dividend
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 NewsFlash
Editor: Karl Widerquist
Copyeditor: Mike Murray and the USBIG Committee
Research: Paul Nollen
Special help on this issue was provided by: Steve Shafarman,
Geoff Crocker, Jurgen de Wispelaere, Gary Flomenhoft, Jeff Smith, and Alanna
Hartzok.
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. More news about BIG is online
at BInews.org.
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.
Thank you,
-Karl Widerquist, editor
Karl@Widerquist.com