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 Networks 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.
1. Editorial: BIEN Announces An
Ask Me Anything series of internet events on International Basic Income Week
is coming up on September 15-21
2. News
about Basic Income from around the world
3. Events
4. BI
Literature
6. Audio-video
7. About the Basic Income Earth Network and its
NewsFlash
BIEN will organize a series of Internet events on the Seventh Annual International Basic Income Week, September 15-21, 2014. Each event will be an Ask Me Anything (also know as AMA or sometimes as As Us Anything). In these events, an expert in a given topic promises to be available for a given amount of time to type answers to questions submitted from anyone around the world. The AMAs will appear on Reddit, which calls itself, The Front Page of the Internet. Reddit is one of the worlds most popular websites, last year receiving 731 million unique visitors and 56 billion page views.
For the 7 days of Basic Income Week, BIEN, together with the Basic Income community on Reddit, plan to promote an expansive series of AMAs including participants from around the world, in various languages, and on various different topics related to basic income.
Reddit is a website where people can post discussion or link to texts. Users can vote and comment on all content. It is divided into about 500,000 different communities (called subreddits) of varying sizes and topics. Each subreddit is a continuing discussion, going 24 hours a days, with people posting and responding. The Basic Income subreddit has recently experience enormous growth, rising from 50 users last summer to over 15,000 today, and now raking 1,626th out of over 5,400 active subreddits.
AMAs are hosted on a subreddit called IAMA, one of the most popular of Reddits subreddits with over 5.9 million subscribers. The popularity of the AMA lies in its anything goes nature. Its like having an interview with thousands of people; any question can be asked and candor is greatly valued. A successful AMA can be read by hundreds of thousands of people and draw thousands of comments.
BIEN will schedule at least one AMA per day, perhaps several a day, throughout Basic Income Week, starting September 15 and concluding September 21. Some of these will take place in the IAMA subreddit and BasicIncome subreddit, but most will take place in some of the many other subreddits available, based on location like (perhaps Ireland, Europe, Korea, etc.), or focus of interviewee (perhaps Economics, politics, Psychology, etc.) or by language (perhaps French, German, Japanese, etc.). More Information will be released soon.
Participants include:
Karl Widerquist, co-chair of BIEN, Associate Professor at SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University, editor of Basic Income News, and author of A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No
Peter Barnes, author of Who Owns the Sky?, Capitalism 3.0, and With Liberty and Dividends for all
Barb Jacobson, Stanislas Jourdin, and Enno Schmidt, of Universal Basic Income Europe and leaders of peoples initiatives that raise a total of more than 400,000 signatures for basic income in 2013-2014
Mike Howard, editor of Basic Income Studies, coordinator of USBIG, and a socialist philosopher at the University of Maine-Orono, with expertise on the Alaska dividend & the cap-and-dividend approach to global warming
Ann Withorn, of the University of Massachusetts-Boston and USBIG and Shawn Cassiman, of USBIG
Jeff Smith, of the Geonomy Society
Jason Murphy, philosopher at Elms College and Gaura Rader, philosopher at Ohio University and of the Socratic Diablogues,
Pablo Yannes, of Red Mexicana Ingreso Ciudadano Universal (BIENs affiliate in Mexico)
Juon Kim Tlmaque Masson of Basic Income Generation
Mike Munger, Libertarian economist at Duke University
Toru Yamamori, of Doshisha University and BIEN-Japan
Hysong Ahn, of the Basic Income Korean Network
Popho Eun Sil Bark-Yi, Yonsei University and Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN)
Louise Haag, co-chair of BIEN and Reader in politics and the University of York (UK) and Anja Askeland, Secretary of BIEN and member of BIEN-Norway
Adriaan Planken, of UBIE-the Netherlands
Mark Walker, of New Mexico State University, and James Hughes, of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Oxford University
Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks.com, entrepreneur, and author
Ed Dolan, author of Economics of Public Policy
Charles M.A. Clark, of St. Johns University
Michael Bohmeyer, entrepreneur and founder of My basic income
The Basic Income Subreddit is online at: http://www.reddit.com/r/BasicIncome/
Information about the growth of the BI Subreddit is online at: http://redditmetrics.com/r/BasicIncome
The IAMA subreddit is online at: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA
More information about the AMA series will be announced soon.
The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), Alaskas small yearly Basic Income,
is likely to double this year over last years value. The dividend is paid every
fall from the returns to the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF), a pool of financial
assets accumulated from savings from the states oil revenue. The formula for
converting returns into dividends is complex. It depends on the average returns
over the previous five years and the number of Alaskan residents who apply for
it. The exact figure will be released soon, and direct deposits will be
delivered by early October.
Mike Burns, the executive director of Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation,
was quoted by the Alaska Dispatch saying, "I think the punchline is that
the dividend is going to be right about doubling from last year." The
reason for the big increase in the dividend this year has to do with the
five-year average used to calculate dividends. The enormous downturn of the
2008-2009 fiscal year have finally dropped out of the calculation. Since then
the APF has had a very good run, rising to a total value of $53
billion—an all time record—and its assets returned more than 15%
for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
Last years value was $900.
So, a doubling would put it the PFD the neighborhood of $1,800 per person or
$7,200 for a family of four. The Alaska
Dispatch estimates the number will be $1,930.49, give or take $100. This
would put the dividend near its all-time high of $2069, paid in 2008, at the
height of the market bubble. Even the record-high amount was far below the
livable income that most Basic Income supporters want to see. Yet some of the
affects supporters hope to see from a larger dividend are present in Alaska. It
has increase economic equality and reduced poverty, and employers have
complained that workers are more likely to quit when they receive the dividend.
The APF and PFD are enormously popular in Alaska, but they are not
immune to attack. Several years ago the state voted to give the notional
dividends that prisoners would have received had they been allowed to apply for
the dividend to the prison system. Just this year the state voted to reduce
taxes on oil companies, which will ultimately mean less money going into the
APF, and therefore, small dividends in the future.
For more information see:
Daniel Gross, Alaska Is a Petrol State: But it
doesnt act like one. Slate, August 28, 2014
Alex DeMarban and Sean Doogan, Estimated at $1,930, Alaska PFD big
but no record. The Alaska Dispatch, August 27, 2014
Dermot Cole, Permanent Fund principal, not oil
royalties, drives most of its growth. The Alaska Dispatch, August
15, 2014
Trilbe Wynne, Alaska Permanent Fund tops $50
billion mark, returns 15.5% for year. Pensions and Investments,
August 11, 2014
Associated Press, Alaska Permanent Fund tops $50B
threshold. Fairbanks News-Miner, August 8, 2014
Sean Doogan, Size of 2014 PFD checks may double
from 2013's $900. The Alaska Dispatch, July 30, 2014.
KTVA, This years PFD checks could double
the 2013 amount. KTVA-TV, July 30, 2014
Economists have written about the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) in one form or another at least since Friedrich Hayek endorsed the idea in 1944. Many leading economists were active in the Guaranteed Income movement in the United States in the 1960s and 70s. They have been a less visible face of the idea in its recent resurgence. That could be changing. This year, one prominent Economist, Ed Dolan, has made BIG a major focus of his writing.
Dolan earned a doctorate in economics from Yale University. He taught at Dartmouth College, the University of Chicago, George Mason University and Gettysburg College. From 1990 to 2001, he taught in Moscow, Russia, where he and his wife founded the American Institute of Business and Economics. Since 2001, he has taught economics in several European countries, including an on-going appointment as visiting professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. His books include Introduction to Economics; Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy; The Foundations of Modern Austrian Economics; and Economics of Public Policy.
He has written at least six articles on BIG since January, covering many different aspects of the issue including affordability, political viability, and ideology. His most recent effort, a two-part article on the affordability of BIG, sparked an interesting discussion within the economic community of Reddit, with more than 400 contributions. Dolan will take part in BIENs AMA series on Basic Income Week, September 15-21.
Hes articles on BIG since January are:
Ed Dolan, "The Economic Case for a
Universal Basic Income", EconoMonitor,
January 3, 2014.
Ed Dolan, "Could We Afford a
Universal Basic Income", Economonitor,
January 13, 2014
Ed Dolan, A Universal Basic Income:
Conservative, Progressive, and Libertarian Perspectives, Economonitor,
January 27, 2014.
Ed Dolan, Universal Basic Income: An
Idea Whose Time Has Come, Real Clear Markets, 6 August 2014
Ed Dolan, "A Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part 1:
Theory", Economonitor, August 18, 2014
Ed Dolan, "A Universal Basic
Income and Work Incentives. Part2: Evidence", Economonitor,
August 25, 2014
[Josh Martin]
A minor unconditional basic income scheme has been taking place in Sanya,
China, for five years now and has flown very much under the radar. The income is given once every six
months and is equivalent to about a months worth of minimum wage labor. It compares financially rather well with
the Alaskan Permanent Fund in the USA.
However, after five years the Hainen Provincial government issued a
directive to Sanya to establish conditionality on these welfare payments. Sanya is now faced with a difficult
situation where its citizens largely support the basic income, but their provincial
government has ordered its termination.
For more on Sanya, read the following article:
Nicole Tin, Should Sanya city obey directives
and stop its unconditional basic income? Citizen-Ownership
Democracy, 10 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Martin Bohmeyer, a 29-year-old web developer in Germany, has been living
on a self-imposed basic income for the past half of a year. He crowdfunded this basic income and
after seeing its effects firsthand, Bohmeyer is now crowdfunding even more to finance
other peoples basic incomes. His
initiative, Mein Grundeinkommen has already raised enough for almost two full
basic incomes of 12,000 per year.
Bohmeyer encourages his website visitors to submit their information to
possibly be one of the winners of a basic income. The winners are to be chosen at random,
but this project has generated responses from people saying what they would do
with a basic income.
For more information, read the following links:
Should we all get 12,000 a year? The
Local, 25 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In a post on their website, the BIG Political Party of the United
Kingdom calls on its followers to consider standing in the UK General Election
in 2015. In the post they write the
following:
If you want to stand as a BIG Party Candidate, you will need.
1. A 500 deposit (returnable if you get at least 5% of the vote)
2. Approximately 600 to print this Election Pamphlet, which will then
be mailed out, free of charge, to every household in your constituency,
explaining to them why they should vote for you.
3. Ten constituency residents, who are on the electoral roll, to
nominate you to stand. These people only need to sign your nomination papers,
they do not have to vote for you in the actual election.
To read the full post, click on the following link:
Do you want to be an MP?
Unconditional Basic Income Guarantee Party is recruiting Parliamentary
Candidates for UK General Election 2015, The
BIG Political Party, 6 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Green party leader Natalie Bennett, in an interview with BuzzFeed, declared that support for a
universal basic income will be among the partys major positions in their
manifesto for the 2015 election. Current polls have the Greens receiving six
percent of the vote in 2015, up from 0.9 percent in 2010.
To read the post on BuzzFeed,
click on the following link:
Jon Stone, Green Party To Give "Universal
Income" A Front-Row Seat In Its Manifesto, BuzzFeed,
8 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In a recent publication the Scottish Green Party stated its plan for a
basic income (called a citizens income in their writing) for Scotland if they
vote for independence in the upcoming referendum. With the slogan of Green Yes, the Scottish
Greens agree with the UK Greens on supporting a basic income. In the eight-page publication, the
Scottish Greens discuss why a citizens income is the right way forward by
highlighting the flaws of the current system and the benefits a citizens income
would bring to Scotland.
The document also outlines their initial plan for a citizens income in
Scotland: 50 a week for children and young people under sixteen, 100 a week
for 16-18 year olds and working-age adults, and 150 a week for pensioners,
totaling just under 1 billion to implement. They then go on to discuss funding
options for such a policy. In sum
the Scottish Greens call upon voters to vote yes to independence in hopes that
they could then implement this policy.
To read the publication, follow the links below:
Scottish Green Party, Citizens Income, Green
Yes briefing note, 10 August 2014.
Greens Publish Citizens Income Plan
for Fairer Scotland, Scottish Green Party, 10 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Over the past two weeks Cato
Unbound hosted a debate titled The Basic Income and the Welfare State,
which contained four articles.
First, Zwolinski outlined a pragmatic libertarian case for a basic
income that served as the lead article to which the other three authors would
respond. The following three
articles from Manzi, Huemer, and Frank dug into different arguments for and
against a basic income from a libertarian perspective. Each author offered their take on the
basic income and sparked many responses throughout the web on the topic of
libertarians and the basic income.
To read the four posts, click on the link below to the Cato Unbound page:
To read some responses to these posts, click on the following links:
Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Libertarians Debate Basic Income
Guarantee, Reason,
4 August 2014.
Mike Konczal, The Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a
Basic Income Doesn't Add Up, Next New Deal, 8 August 2014.
Jesse Walker, Making the Welfare State Less
Intrusive, Reason,
5 August 2014.
Fitsnews, The Notorious (Basic Income Guarantee), Fitsnews, 4 August 2014.
The Swiss Federal Council has released its evaluation of the popular
initiative for an unconditional basic income (UBI), which received enough
signatures last fall to trigger a nationwide referendum on it. The Federal
Council evaluates all peoples initiatives in Switzerland making one of three
recommendations: it could accept, reject, or no recommendation. The council chose
to reject the initiative. The initiative will still take place sometime in
2016, the rejection means simply that the council recommends that citizens vote
no on the proposal.
Enno Schmidt & Daniel Straub, the two main organizers of the
peoples initiative said, This is nothing special. We expected this. The
function of a peoples initiative is to bypass the government and go directly
to the people even against the ruling governments wishes.
The Federal Council also release a statement justifying is rejection of the
initiative. The statement alleged many shortcomings of UBI, including: many
low-paid jobs would probably disappear or be transferred abroad, Women would be
forced back into the housework and care work. Taxes would rise considerably to
finance the basic income and further weaken the incentive to work. The amount
of the UBI proposed is too large and cannot be financed. It contradicts the
principle of subsidiarity. The statement also defended the existing social
system is in Switzerland. The Federal Council agreed with the founders of the
initiative that each person has to be able to can live a life in dignity but
argued that Switzerland achieves that goal with its existing system.
Schmidt & Straubs reaction to the statement was mixed, The tone of the message is fair, no nasty
insinuations and no polemic. But, according to Schmidt & Straub, the substance
of statement implied that Switzerland would perish if this initiative were
accepted by the people.
Philippe Van Parijs, of the Basic Income Earth Network said that this
statement was an opportunity for Basic Income supporters to point out the
misunderstandings [in the statement] and to work out realistic scenarios in
terms of amount and funding.
For more information in German see:
Enno Schmidt & Daniel Straub, Botschaft des Bundesrates ber das
bedingungslose Grundeinommen, [Report of the Federal Council on the
unconditional Grundeinommen], Volksinitiative Grundeinkommen,
August 2014.
News.Admin.ch, Bundesrat lehnt die Volksinitiative
Fr ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen [Bundesrat rejects the popular
initiative "for an unconditional basic income], News.Admin.ch,
27, 08, 2014.
Didier Burkhalter, Botschaft zur Volksinitiative Fr ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen [Message
Regarding the People's Initiative for an unconditional basic income], the Swiss
Federal Council, 2014.
Aagauer Zeitung, Bundesrat lehnt Initiative fr
bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen ab [Bundesrat rejects initiative for
unconditional basic income]. Aagauer Zeitung, 27, 08, 2014
For more information in French see:
Ludwig Grtner, Conseil fdral suisse : Le Conseil
fdral rejette linitiative populaire Pour un revenu de base inconditionnel,
[Swiss Federal Council, the Federal Council rejects the
popular initiative 'For an unconditional basic income] Zonebourse, 27/08/2014
Macau, the former Portuguese possession, now a semi-autonomous region of
China, is in the process of distributing a temporary Basic Income of more than
$1000 to all residents. According to a government press release dated 1 July,
2014, In order to share the fruits of economic development with the general
public, the Macao SAR government had announced the Wealth Partaking Scheme
2014, under which, local permanent residents would receive 9,000 patacas [US $1,127.46],
whereas non-permanent residents 5,400 patacas [US $676.48]. At $1,127, this years
effective Basic Income in Macau larger than last years Alaska Dividend ($900).
Macau has distributed temporary Basic Incomes each year for the last
four years. In 2011, permanent residents received 4,000 patacas [US $501—at
August 2014 exchange rates] at the beginning of the year, and a further
supplement of 3,000 patacas [US $376] in August. In 2012, permanent residents
received $7,000 patacas [US $877] all at once. In 2013, permanent residents
received 8,000 patacas [US $1,002]. Non-permanent residents received
proportionately smaller figures this year. Thus, permanent residents of Macao
for the last four years have received a total of $3883 since 2011. This amount
is clearly not enough to live on in an expensive place such as Macao (it cannot
be a full basic income, only partial), but it is a significant figure for Macao
residents at the low end of the income distribution.
This scheme is a Basic Income in the sense that it distributes an income
unconditionally, on an individual basis to all citizens (at least all resident
citizens), but it is not a Basic Income in the sense that it is not distributed
on a regular basis. The government has now set the president that the Wealth
Partaking Scheme will be in effect every year, but each year it has been
created with one-time legislation without a promise of renewal. The amount,
timing, and existence of the redistribution have to be renegotiated each year. People
cannot count on it. Yet, it is something that is already close to a Basic
Income and that could develop into a Basic Income in the future.
For more information about the Wealth partaking scheme, see the
government websites from the last four years:
2014: http://www.planocp.gov.mo/2014/default_e.html
2013: http://www.planocp.gov.mo/2013/default_e.html
2012: http://www.planocp.gov.mo/2012/default_e.html
2011, supplement: http://www.ap.gov.mo/2011/default_e.html
2011: http://www.planocp.gov.mo/2011/index_e.html
See also the following articles and commentaries form Macao newspapers:
Macau Daily Times, Cash handout starts in July. Macau
Daily Times, 01/07/2014
Business Daily Editorial Board, Smoke and mirrors. Business
Daily [Macao], 2014
Michael Bohmeyer, a 29 year old IT professional
and basic income activist raises money for a project named Mein Grundeinkommen (my basic income) via crowdfunding,
were people can win a basic income of 1.000 Euro per month payed for one year.
Within only 22 days almost 500 people donated 12.000 Euro for the first winner
to be drawn soon. Bohmeyer wants to find out how the winners will use the money
and how it may make a difference in their life. The project has attracted a lot
of attention in German media.
For more information (in German) see: Mein
Grundeinkommen
For an interview in English with Michael Bohmeyer see:
Chris Kver, A German Guy Wants to Give You a
Bunch of Money for Nothing. Vice, Aug 14 2014.
[Craig Axford]
Congressman Chris Van Hollen, (D) Maryland, recently introduced the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2014. If passed, this legislation would guarantee every American a small Basic Income using revenues from the sale of carbon permits. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, these permits would be auctioned off to carbon emitting industries in the same manner the US government currently auctions off permits for the emission of sulfur dioxide. The permitting system for sulfur dioxide was instituted in 1990 in response to the increasing impact of acid rain. It is widely credited with dramatic reductions in the release of that pollutant since.
Because revenues from the sale of permits under the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act would be evenly distributed to every American, this legislation links a basic income to the struggle against global warming in ways past anti-pollution efforts have not. According to Climateandprosperity.org American families stand to receive a dividend regardless of income. With an initial auction price of $10/ton of CO2, a median family of four would receive about $640/year and pay about $380 as a result of higher fossil fuel prices, receiving a net benefit of about $260/year. The organization projects this payment will grow over time as permits increase in value. Climateandprosperity.org also reports a substantial number of environmental organizations have already endorsed the proposal. According to the organizations statement of support for the legislation 32 groups from around the United States have so far endorsed the bill. This potentially provides an opportunity for basic income advocates to expand support for the BIG concept as well.
For additional information regarding the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2014 please visit one or more of the following websites:
Peter Coy, Is This How to Sell Americans on Fighting Global Warming?, Bloomberg Businessweek, July 30, 2014
Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Van Hollen Introduces the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2014″, Press Releases, July 30, 2014
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Protecting Our Climate and the Middle Class, The Huffington Post, July 30, 2014
Climate and
Prosperity, Climate and Consumer Groups Support the Healthy
Climate and Family Security Act, Climateandprosperity.org,
July 30, 2014
[Joerg Drescher]
According to an article of Interfax-Ukraine dated to 14th July 2014, Ihor
Kolomoyskyi, a Ukrainian business magnate and the current Governor of
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in Eastern Ukraine, suggests to punish people who support
separatism and terrorism in Ukraine by seizeing their assets and to create a
special fund out of them. The stakeholders of this fund should be those who are
currently fighting at the "Anti-Terroristic-Operation" (ATO), as well
as relatives of killed soldiers.
The respective article does not say exactly, if the stakeholders receive
a dividend, but if, it can be compared to the Alaska Permanent Fund. However,
the beneficiaries would not be all citizens of Ukraine and to become a
beneficiary would not be unconditional (either you need to be a member of the
ATO, or to be a relative of a killed soldier).
Source in Russian:
Interfax-Ukraine [Ukrainian news agency], Коломойский
считает
необходимым
провести
национализацию
ряда активов
Ахметова и
Фирташа [Kolomoyskyi sees it as necessary to
nationalise some assets of Akhmetov and Firtash], Interfax-Ukraine, 14th July 2014.
Hoping to raise awareness on basic income and reach new people, the activists
from France, Belgium and Switzerland have decided to work together on a project
aiming at launching a newspaper called Linconditionnel,
(The Unconditional).
Initiated by Stanislas Jourdan & Barbara Garbarczyk, the project
will evolve as a joint-venture between BIEN affiliates in France, Belgium and Switzerland. The project coordinators aim at printing more
than 50,000 issues and will distribute them for free at all events planned
during the Basic Income Week (September 15-21) in the three countries.
In order to finance the printings, they have started a crowdfunding
campaign. We would need at least 5,000 euros to print 25,000 newspapers of 12
pages. Ideally, we want 12,000 in order to print more than 50,000 newspapers,
20 pages each. Our objective is definitely ambitious, said Stanislas Jourdan,
but we are sure that basic income supporters will understand the impact this
project could have for all of us. The more money we have, the more we can print
issues, the more people we will reach.
Organizers have asked people to support the project by participating to the crowdfunding campaign.
The newspaper will include articles, interviews, and graphics explaining
how to finance basic income. The point of the newspaper is to gather the best
of what people need to know. Instead of flooding people with links on basic
income, we hope this newspaper will provide all the essential informations to
understand the idea and its consequences. explained Barbara Garbarczyk.
For now, we are working on a single publication newspaper, Stanislas
Jourdan said, but of course further editions will be envisaged if the first
issue is a success.
For more information on the project, see the newspapers website: L'inconditionnel - journal sur le
revenu de base.
[Jenna van Draanen]
A basic income pilot project, originally implemented in 2008, has just
been re started. The project in the Otjivero-Omitara settlement of the
Steinhausen Constituency in Namibia had been providing all residents living in
the settlement since 2007 with $100 per person per month, without any
conditions attached. The initial pilot program stopped in June 2013, when the
funds provided by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia
were depleted.
Now, with funding from the Waldensian Church, basic income payments of
$100 per person per month have been re-instated for residents of the
settlement. Three rounds of monthly payments have already been released this
year, and the program is expected to have enough funding to continue until
April 2015.
For more information on the return of the program, see:
The Namibian, BIG resumes at Otjivero. The
Namibian, July 17, 2014.
Rev. Wilfred Diergaardt Press Release BIG
Coalition Namibia, July 15, 2014
The national parliament of Cyprus has introduced a policy with a name
that translates as guaranteed minimum income or minimum guaranteed income. The
name sounds like a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG). It is not, but it appears to
be a significant step in that direction. The law was enacted 10 July 2014, and the
first recipients started signing up on 14 July 2014. According to the Cyprus Daily, the law provides a minimum
income of 480 Euros for Cypriot citizen, irrespective of whether they are
unemployed, pensioners or self-employed. For every additional family member
over 14, including the wife or husband, 50% of the initial amount of 480 (240)
will be added to the benefit. For members under 14, an additional 30% (144)
will be added. According to Cyprus Mail, the government arrived at those
amounts using figures including the average cost of rent in Cyprus, cost of
living and entertainment and others.
The guarantee is means tested—making it closer to the Negative
Income Tax than to the Basic Income form of BIG. Income must be less than the
real needs of the household, and wealth must be less than $100,000 Euros for
each member of the household. The new guaranteed minimum replace most existence
state benefits in Cyprus. When the government proposed the idea of a
guaranteed minimum income last year, the prime minister said it would come
with a work expectation. Available reports so far make no mention of whether
the final version included work requirements or how strict they are. However,
the combination of benefits, the effort to meet basic needs through cash
benefits, and the ability to keep them whether employed or not is a significant
step in the direction of a true basic income guarantee, a step that few if any Western
industrialized nations have yet taken.
For more information on the new law see:
InCyprus, Guaranteed minimum income approved. The
Cypress Daily: InCyprus.com, 11 July 2014
Cyprus Mail, Large family benefits not to be
impacted by GMI. Cyprus Mail, July 22, 2014
Cyprus Mail, Our View: Public sector cuts could
finance better welfare system. Cyprus Mail, July 22, 2014
Scott Santens' article, "Why Should We Support the Idea of an
Unconditional Basic Income?" published on Medium in June achieved the distinction in
July of making the Medium Top 100 -
a collection of the most-read of all stories each month.
Medium is a social journalism platform created by co-founders of
Twitter, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Its monthly list is ranked by what they
call TTR (total time reading) – a metric
devised to measure quality of reader engagement. The TTR for this particular article
in support of basic income, ranked it at number 26 for the month of June.
Scott Santens, "Why Should We Support the Idea of an
Unconditional Basic Income?" Medium, 2 June 2014.
Pete Davies, Mediums metric that matters: Total
Time Reading Medium, 21 November 2013.
In a an interview with the daily newspaper Le Devoir (30 June
2014), Franois Blais - who was appointed Minister of Employment and Social
Solidarity after the April 2014 General Election in Quebec - cautiously
reiterates his support for basic income. As BIEN was holding its international
conference in Montreal, Blais stressed the fact that a thorough reform of
Quebec's social model would be most welcome, provided it would include the
introduction of a "guaranteed minimum income" for all. Blais also
insisted on the fact that this was not an official statement of the Quebec's
government, but rather his own position on this issue. In 2001, Blais had
published an introductory book on basic income in French, which was translated
into English in 2002: Ending Poverty. A Basic Income for all Canadians
(Lorimer Publishing).
The interview can be found here (in French).
Unconditional Basic Income can become the basis for Building Social
Cohesion in Europe. This is the motto of this years International Basic
Income Week, which is scheduled to run from September 15–21, 2014. BI
Weeks activities in the Netherlands include, a viewing Enno Schmidt's Basic
Income Film, organizing a Parking Day for the UBI, debates, book presentations,
workshops, etc. Swiss activist/filmmaker Enno Schmidts film, "Basic Income a Cultural Impulse" will be performed in several theaters
(select subtitles of your choice).
Some well-known speakers will give presentations:
Historian/Journalist Rutger Bregman, author of
"Why-we-should-give-free-money-to-everyone."
Economist/rapper Joeri Oltheten AKA Parao,
known from the song "The Good Life."
Jolanda Verburg, female blogger/politician for
the Dutch Greens
Willem Gieling, vice-chairman Dutch Basic
Income Network
Events will take place cities including Tilburg, Amsterdam, Breda, Namen
(B), Zoetermeer, Assen, Leeuwarden, Borger.
For more information see:
Dutch website: http://week-van-het-basisinkomen.nl
English website: http://basicincomeweek.org
The NYC Climate Convergence will hose a conference entitled, Building a
Broader Climate Movement: Universal Basic Income and the Transition to a
Low-Carbon Economy, at 7:00pm, Thursday, September 11, 2014, in The Commons Brooklyn, 388 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11217.
This is a free
build-up event for the NYC Climate Convergence (www.convergeforclimate.org), a series of
events and actions that will take place 9/19-9/21. See the website for
registration and details.
Since the economic collapse of 2007-2008, calls for a universal basic income
(or "Social Security for All") have resurfaced in major outlets for
the first time since the 1970s. While many of the voices calling for a UBI have
come from outside established social movement groups, the UBI has tremendous
potential to link the disparate movements of the left. It also may present a
way of beginning to address perhaps the most urgent problem of our
time--climate change.
Speakers:
Alyssa Battistoni is PhD student in political science at Yale University and an
editor at Jacobin magazine.
Benjamin Kunkel is a founding editor of n+1 magazine and the author of Utopia
or Bust. His play Buzz will be staged this fall in Brooklyn.
Michael Lewis is a social worker and sociologist on the faculty of the
Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. Hes interested in
quantitative methods, public policy, and poverty and is the co-author of
Economics for Social Workers and co-editor of The Ethics and Economics of the
Basic Income Guarantee. Other articles hes written have appeared in a number
of peer-review journals.
Time & Date: 7:00pm, Thursday, September 11, 2014
Location: The Commons Brooklyn
388 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11217
Host: NYC Climate Convergence
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/283099725223819/
The 14th Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG)
Congress will be held in conjunction with the Eastern Economic Association in
New York, NY, Thursday, February 26 – Sunday, March 1, 2015. The call for
participants will be released soon. The deadline for participant submissions is
October 31, 2015. The NABIG Congress is a joint meeting of the U.S. Basic
Income Guarantee (USBIG) Network and the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN). It
takes place each year, rotating between the United States and Canada. Features
Speakers include Peter Barnes: entrepreneur, environmental activist, and author
of a half-dozen books, including, Who
Owns the Sky?, Capitalism 3.0,
and With Liberty and Dividends for All.
Essential information:
Conference dates: Thursday, February 26 –
Sunday, March 1, 2015
The deadline for participant submissions: October
31, 2014f
Location: New York, NY
Organizing committee: Karl Widerquist <Karl@Widerquist.com> (organizer), Ann Withorn <withorn.ann@gmail.com>, Shawn Cassiman <scassiman1@udayton.edu>, and a BICN representative to be named
later.
UBI: A Vision of the future, Athens Summit: Turning
crises into an opportunity with the adoption of an Unconditional Basic Income
in Europe.
The organizers
invite to you participate in the event organized by UBIE (Unconditional Basic
Income Europe) for a day of discussion, production
of ideas and planning for the future of emancipation in Europe and beyond, on
Friday, September 26, 2pm-9pm, at the Melina Mercouri Cultural Center,
Iraklidon 66 and Thessaloniki street, Athens.
Program
14:00 - 16:00 Food
for all. Social Kitchen.
16:00 - 18:00 Workshops.
18:00 - 18:20 Coffee break.
18:20 - 18:30 Short introduction by the Greek UBI
team.
18:30 - 19:00 Main Speaker. (Guy Standing)
19:00 - 20:00 Panel discussion.
20:00 - 21:00 Discussion with audience.
To participate,
please send an email to info@basicincome.gr with the subject UBIE Registration,
with your name. For more information go to the event website.
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) has announced the list of speakers for its Ask Me Anything (AMA) series of internet interviews, which will take place on the Reddit website. The interviews will be text only and open to everyone. Anyone in the world can type in a question. The AMA series will take place during the Seventh Annual International Basic Income Week, September 15-21, 2014.
Reddit is one of the worlds most popular websites, last year receiving 731 million unique visitors and 56 billion page views. The Basic Income community on Reddit has recently experience enormous growth, rising from 50 users last summer to over 16,000 today
Participants in BIENs AMA series include:
Karl Widerquist, co-chair of BIEN, Associate Professor at SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University, editor of Basic Income News, and author of A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No
Peter Barnes, author of Who Owns the Sky?, Capitalism 3.0, and With Liberty and Dividends for all
Barb Jacobson, Stanislas Jourdin, and Enno Schmidt, of Universal Basic Income Europe and leaders of peoples initiatives that raise a total of more than 400,000 signatures for basic income in 2013-2014
Mike Howard, editor of Basic Income Studies, coordinator of USBIG, and a socialist philosopher at the University of Maine-Orono, with expertise on the Alaska dividend & the cap-and-dividend approach to global warming
Ann Withorn, of the University of Massachusetts-Boston and USBIG and Shawn Cassiman, of USBIG
Jeff Smith, of the Geonomy Society
Jason Murphy, philosopher at Elms College and Gaura Rader, philosopher at Ohio University and of the Socratic Diablogues,
Pablo Yannes, of Red Mexicana Ingreso Ciudadano Universal (BIENs affiliate in Mexico)
Juon Kim Tlmaque Masson of Basic Income Generation
Mike Munger, Libertarian economist at Duke University
Toru Yamamori, of Doshisha University and BIEN-Japan
Hysong Ahn, of the Basic Income Korean Netowrk
Louise Haag, co-chair of BIEN and Reader in politics and the University of York (UK) and Anja Askeland, Secretary of BIEN and member of BIEN-Norway
Adriaan Planken, of UBIE-the Netherlands
Mark Walker, of New Mexico State Univesity, and James Hughes, of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Oxford University
Marshall Brain, founder of HowStuffWorks.com, entrepreneur, and author
Ed Dolan, author of Economics of Public Policy
Charles M.A. Clark, of St. Johns University
Michael Bohmeyer, entrepreneur and founder of My basic income
The Basic Income Subreddit is online at: http://www.reddit.com/r/BasicIncome/
Information about the grown of the BI Subreddit is online at: http://redditmetrics.com/r/BasicIncome
The IAMA subreddit is online at: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA
More information about the AMA series will be announced soon.
On September 13, the German Netzwerk
Grundeinkommen celebrates its 10th anniversary with a big party in the Mauersegler beer garden and club in Berlin from 1 pm to 3 am. Everyone is invited
to come. There will be songs, poems, talks, street theater, a fantastic live
band and DJ music.
Basic income will be a major topic at the 4th International Conference on Degrowth for
Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity from September 2 to 6 in the German city of
Leipzig. Activists from Netzwerk Grundeinkommen and from other basic income
groups will give several talks, workshops and plenary contributions.
B.I.E.N. Austria recently published the Austrian programme folder with
more than 12 events for the Basic Income Week, September 15–21, 2014. On
9 September, 2014, updated versions will be published.
English version: http://www.pro-grundeinkommen.at/WdGE2014/Flyer_WdGE2014en.pdf
German version: http://www.pro-grundeinkommen.at/WdGE2014/Flyer_WdGE2014.pdf
Events on Google-Maps: http://pro-grundeinkommen.at/WdGE2014
SUMMARY: Oil tax revenue funds Alaskas
Permanent Fund, which distributes dividends equally to state residents. Peter
Barnes wants a nationwide dividend system (or basic income) based on shared
assets like our atmosphere.
Peter Barnes, Why you
have the right to a $5K dividend from Uncle Sam. PBS Newshour, August 27, 2014
SUMMARY: This article is positive book review
of Peter Barness With Liberty and
Dividends for All, which proposes a substantial Basic Income, financed
mostly by environmental taxes and taxes on common assets.
Herb Kutchins, Righting
capitalism with dividends. Point
Reyes Light, 08/21/2014
[Craig Axford]
Experts responding to a Pew Research survey were nearly evenly
split on the question of whether or not robots and digital agents would
displace a significant number of workers between now and 2025, creating huge
knock on effects for the economy as a whole in the process. According to
the Pew Report's key findings,
"Half of these experts (48%) envision a future in which robots and digital
agents have displaced significant numbers of both blue- and white-collar
workers—with many expressing concern that this will lead to vast
increases in income inequality, masses of people who are effectively
unemployable, and breakdowns in the social order." Stowe Boyd, lead
researcher with Gigaom Research, argued "The central question of 2025 will
be: What are people for in a world that does not need their labor, and where
only a minority are needed to guide the 'bot-based economy?
Aaron Smith & Janna Anderson, "AI,
Robotics, and the Future of Jobs", Pew
Research Internet Project, August 6, 2014
[Craig Axford]
Residents of Dauphin, Manitoba who benefited
from Canada's experiment with a basic income guarantee look back upon it
fondly. Research conducted four decades after the so-called
"Mincome" experiment found the project resulted in a significant
decline in hospital visits without producing a reduction in labor market
participation.
Benjamin Shingler, "Money
for nothing: Mincome experiment could pay dividends 40 years on", Aljazeera America, August 26, 2014
In this two part series Ed Dolan takes a look
at the impact a basic income guarantee would likely have upon the incentive to
work. In part 1 Dolan considers the theory behind an income guarantee and
its impact on work. In his second post he considers some of the available
evidence.
Ed Dolan, "A
Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part 1: Theory", Economonitor, August 18, 2014
Ed Dolan, "A
Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part2: Evidence", Economonitor, August 25, 2014
[Craig Axford]
Presented on July 27, 2014, at the 15th
International Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network, this paper considers
the tension within democratic societies between inalienable rights that can't
be sold and the sale of alienable commodities upon which the economies of
modern capitalist societies depend.
Elliot Sperber, "The
Alienable, the Inalienable, and an actually Democratic Society", Heathwood Press, July 27, 2014
[Craig Axford]
The notion that there is not enough to go
around is a common theme these days. However, this author argues there is
plenty to go around and a living income guarantee is possible.
Gabrielle Goodrow, "There
is Enough! Stopping the Cycle of Ignorance with LIG", Living Income Guaranteed, May 28, 2014
SUMMARY: This article argues that there will
come a day when most human labor is outmoded, replaced by machines. The author
the argues, And what do we do on that day - or rather, on the daisy-chain of
days, months and years that Great Shedding will likely fall across? There are a
lot of bad options, but maybe at least a few good ones. Im personally a fan of
the UBI – Universal Basic Income – in which the government drops
all unemployment and other social safety net programs, including Social
Security, in favor of a baseline, lifetime income (say, just above poverty
level) for every American citizen. You want to work anyway? Great. Your work
income is icing on the cake. The UBI is yours whether your other income is
seven figures or none.
Jaxpagan, Your
Services Are No Longer Required - The Coming "Great Idleness. the Daily Kos, Aug 12, 2014
[Josh Martin]
In this opinion piece Elliot discusses the
complexity of the United Kingdoms benefits system as well as the confusing
state of the economy and labor market.
Elliot claims that one possible way to cut through the complexity and
confusion is to reform the benefits system into a basic income.
Larry Elliot, Would a
citizens income be better than our benefits system?, The Guardian, 10 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Konczal vehemently disagrees with Zwolinskis
post from Cato Unbound that made a
pragmatic libertarian case for a basic income. In the original post, Zwolinski points
out the number of different welfare programs and the size of its bureaucracy as
a reason to switch to the simpler basic income, but Konczal counters this by
showing that seven programs account for most of welfare and that the average
administrative cost is around five percent for each program. Thus, Konczal claims that a push for a
basic income needs to be built on a sturdier argument than the libertarian one.
Mike Konczal, The
Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a Basic Income Doesn't Add Up, Next New Deal, 8 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Spafford tackles a largely untouched question
in basic income studies: How will a basic income change immigration
patterns? Spafford believes that a
basic income will lead to a significant influx of new immigrants and thus the country
will likely have to implement tougher immigration laws. Looking at Europe, those countries with
large welfare states often have significant anti-immigrant sentiment. This is an issue for pro-immigration
supporters of a basic income, but Spafford proposes one way to remedy the two
policies: a Graduated Basic Income (GBI).
Under a GBI, an immigrants basic income would start out at zero in
their first year and slowly increase each year until they eventually reach the
level of the maximum basic income.
This GBI might deter some of the increased immigration, but still feels
unfair to immigrants, so Spafford proposes using the GBI on every citizen
starting at 18 years old. Under
this policy all citizens at 18 years old will see their basic incomes increase
from nothing to the maximum amount in a set number of years.
Jesse Spafford, Reconciling
Basic Income and Immigration, Metamorphoses
and Deformations, 8 December 2013
[Josh Martin]
In Raders latest post on the basic income, he
discuesses the two policies broadly referred to as basic income guarantees: the
universal basic income (UBI) and the negative income tax (NIT). Rader admits to preferring a UBI, but in
this post calls on UBI supporters to also support an NIT because of its
political viability among other reasons.
Rader then raises the main arguments and drawbacks of both policies.
Gaura Rader, Basic
Income vs. Negative Income Tax: Why supporters of basic income should be in
favor of a negative income tax, Socratic
Diablogs, 6 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Manzi responds to Zwolinskis original post at
Cato Unbound by attacking the basic
income guarantee (BIG) using the randomized experiments from 1968 to 1980 as
evidence that a BIG would reduce work hours. Manzi goes on to claim that the best way
out of poverty is through work and thus welfare policies that have work
requirements are the best way to address welfare. Manzi then turns towards Zwolinskis
idealism. Zwolinski argued for a
constitutional amendment that would implement a BIG for each citizen, but Manzi
thinks Zwolinski is too optimistic about passing the BIG into law. The democratic process contains many
behind-the-scenes changes to bills, so passing a pure BIG seems far-fetched to
Manzi.
Jim Manzi, When the
Basic Income Guarantee Meets the Political Process, Cato Unbound, 8 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Frank voices a few objections to Zwolinskis
original post on the basic income at Cato
Unbound. Frank agrees that a
basic income would be preferable to the current system, but he fears that a
basic income that raises a family out of poverty would never be politically
sustainable. Hardworking taxpayers
might soon hear about others who live off of their basic incomes and create
animosity between the two groups.
However, Frank does not write off a basic income entirely. Instead, he advocates a basic income
that is not a livable amount paired with public work opportunities at
sub-minimum wage levels. This would
make poverty effectively a choice in his eyes, since everybody could find work
that would raise them above the poverty line.
Robert Frank, Lets Try
a Basic Income and Public Work, Cato
Unbound, 11 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this post Rader discusses the effects a
basic income would have on societys relationship with the market. While people are oppressed by the market
more today than at any other point during history, Rader believes a basic
income would allow people to choose when to participate in the market, instead
of being forced into the market like they are now.
Gaura Rader, Basic
Income and The Role of the Market in Society, The Socratic Diablogs, 28 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Zwolinskis excellent article acts as the lead
essay for a special month-long debate hosted by Cato Unbound on The Basic Income and the Welfare State. Written from the pragmatic libertarian
perspective, Zwolinski outlines the current libertarian objections to the
welfare state—largely its complexity and extensive bureaucracy—and
argues that a basic income guarantee would be much more desirable for
libertarians than the status quo.
To solidify his argument he highlights four main benefits of a basic
income guarantee: it would have less bureaucracy, be cheaper to implement, see
less rent-seeking behavior, and be less paternalistic in nature than the
current system. Zwolinski ends his
essay by admitting that a perfect libertarian utopia will never happen, but a
basic income guarantee could help nudge society in its direction.
Matt Zwolinski, The
Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a Basic Income Guarantee, Cato Unbound, 4 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this post Brown highlights the month-long
debate that has just begun at Cato
Unbound titled The Basic Income and the Welfare State. Brown then discusses the first article,
which was written by Matt Zwolinski and looks forward to the upcoming articles
from other academics at Cato
Unbound.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Libertarians
Debate Basic Income Guarantee, Reason,
4 August 2014.
Abstract:
Basic income is a radical idea which has
gained more attention in many countries in recent years, as traditional welfare
states are having trouble solving the problems they were created to solve.
Basic income promises to solve many of these problems in an effective and
simple way. The purpose of this thesis is to study basic income in a way which
can supplement the existing literature, and make it relevant in a Norwegian
perspective. Hopefully this can contribute towards placing basic income on the
political agenda and in the public debate. A large amount of literature is
written on basic income, but by comparing the arguments used to promote a basic
income with empirical data from previously implemented social policy in Norway,
I hope to contribute towards an area which is not well covered.
To do this I identify the arguments used to
promote a basic income, and compare them to the arguments used to promote other
universal social policy in Norway at the time they were introduced. The
empirical cases of the universal child benefit and the universal old age
pension in Norway has been chosen, because they resemble a basic income in many
ways. The study is of a qualitative nature, and the method of document analysis
is used to conduct the study. The data material for basic income is mainly
scholarly literature. The data materials used for the analysis of the child
benefit scheme and the old age pension are government documents, mainly
preparatory work for new laws, legal propositions put forward in parliament, white
papers, and transcripts of debates in parliament.
This study finds that there are many
similarities between the three social policies studied in this thesis. Most
clearly the arguments are similar in two areas: arguments related to economic
and administrative considerations, and arguments related to poverty and social
justice. The main differences are related to arguments related to freedom and
justice, and arguments related to feminist, green and post-productive
considerations.
Christian Siegwart Petersen, Money for
nothing? Arguments for basic income, universal pensions and universal child
benefits in Norway, University
of Bergen, 2 June 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Walkers post is in response to the Cato Unbound debate on the basic income
which was kicked off by Zwolinskis lead essay on the libertarian argument for
the basic income. Walker adds to
the discussion with two well-informed points. First, while Zwolinski hopes for a basic
income that can replace the welfare state, Walker finds that improbable and
instead argues for reform to cashify
multiple programs into one cash benefit.
Instead of housing, food, and health assistance, Walker suggests
combining them into one assistance cash benefit. Second, Walker calls on basic income
debates to remember to include discussions on natural resource based dividends
like the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Walker believes these programs to be an excellent real-world example of
a basic income, even though it is rarely seen as a welfare program.
Jesse Walker, Making the
Welfare State Less Intrusive, Reason,
5 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Fitsnews decided to write on the basic income
as a response to the debate started by Zwolinski at Cato Unbound on the basic income. Fitsnews provides a basic introduction
to the negative income tax and provides some humor by noticing that the basic
income guarantee has the same abbreviation as the infamous Notorious B.I.G.
Fitsnews, The Notorious
(Basic Income Guarantee), Fitsnews,
4 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this blog Evans tackles the age-old
assumption that giving cash to the poor would result in an uptick in alcohol
and tobacco consumption. Evans
cites 19 studies and comes to the conclusion that cash transfer programs (both
conditional and unconditional) do not lead to significant increases in alcohol
and tobacco consumption.
David Evans, Do the
Poor Waste Transfers on Booze and Cigarettes? No, The World Bank, 27 May 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Huemer provides the first response to
Zwolinskis lead essay in the Cato
Unbound debate on the basic income.
Coming from an anarchist-libertarian perspective, Huemers main
arguments against a basic income are against governments in general. His line of thought is the following:
1) A basic income guarantee is permissible
only if the state has political authority.
2) No one has political authority.
3) Therefore, a basic income guarantee is
impermissible.
Huemer then entrenches himself deeper within
this anarchist philosophy by arguing that the government cannot assume a
continuity of obligations from their new taxpayers to, in fact, pay taxes. Thus, a government cannot impose a basic
income upon its citizens since they have not consented to be governed. Lastly, Huemer discusses the argument
that a basic income would promote individual freedom. Huemer claims that imposing a basic
income would instead infringe on some freedoms to give freedom to others, which
he believes is against the one true libertarian philosophy where every freedom
must be protected, even if infringing on one freedom might provide much more
freedom as a consequence. All in
all, Huemers response comes from an uncompromising libertarian view of the
welfare state, where the only possible form of the welfare state is a
nonexistent one.
Michael Huemer, Is a Basic
Income Permissible?, Cato Unbound,
6 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Dolans post focuses on Representative Paul
Ryans recently proposed welfare reform, which would consolidate many
individual welfare programs into one grouped Opportunity Grant for each
applicable citizen. While Ryan
should be praised for trying to cut back on the bureaucracy in welfare, Dolan
believes that Ryans biggest error was continuing to impose work requirements
on each beneficiary, thus maintaining the work disincentives associated with
moving from benefits into work.
Dolan believes that Ryans plan should have gone further in allowing
states to implement a universal basic income if they choose.
Ed Dolan, Universal
Basic Income: An Idea Whose Time Has Come, Real Clear Markets, 6 August 2014
[Josh Martin]
Gordon provides a wonderful, in-depth
introduction to the universal basic income from a conservative
perspective. He provides real world
examples of basic incomes, academics that have supported it, and possible
funding options. He also discusses
current conservative welfare ideas from Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan that seem to
be a step on the way to a radical simplification of welfare.
Noah Gordon, The
Conservative Case for a Guaranteed Basic Income, The Atlantic, 6 August 2014
[Josh Martin]
In this blog post, Brown goes over Paul Ryans
plan for poverty and, after pointing out a few flaws in his plan, brainstorms
possible solutions for poverty today.
This leads Brown to a discussion on a basic income in which he cites two
recent articles on the subject written by Gobry and Yglesias.
N. Christian Brown, Morning Feature
– Paul Ryans Poverty Bait-and-Switch, Part III: Asking the Right
Questions (Non-Cynical Saturday), Blogistan
Polytechnic Institute, 2 August 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Klinger attended the BIEN Congress in Montreal
this summer, and the presentations dedicated to the effects a basic income
would have on jobs especially caught the eye. Because most people working low-pay jobs
are often only working them because they need the money, a basic income would
allow people to only work jobs that are meaningful to their life. Klinger claims a basic income will
promote a healthier work/life balance for everyone in society, resulting in a
transition to an economy of care.
Jamie Klinger, The other
side of Basic Income: Basic Jobs, Joatu,
28 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Gobry, a self-identified right-winger, used to
support a basic income like many other conservatives have in the past; now, he
doesnt. Gobry understands the
allure of the basic income, but in this critique of the basic income, Gobry
uses an analysis from Jim Manzi of a set of randomized field trials from the
60s to the 90s in the USA and Canada to prove that the basic income
fails. Science is on his side, he
claims. To him, the only welfare
policies that successfully place people into work are the policies with work
requirements.
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Progressives'
hot new poverty-fighting idea has just one basic problem: Science, The Week, 21 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this article Aziz discusses Germanys
recent legislation to introduce a minimum wage far higher than the USAs
current minimum wage. Aziz notes
that many on the left have used Germanys success as an example of what
Washington should be trying to pass in America. However, Aziz believes that an increased
minimum wage is a 20th century solution to a 21st century
problem. With ever-increasing
automation of jobs through advances in robotics, a time will come when robots
replace many low-wage jobs, thus leaving many workers unemployed. This is why Aziz believes a basic income
is the correct route out of this issue.
A higher minimum wage will not help those in low-pay jobs when robots
continue to replace them. Instead,
a basic income should be introduced to ensure the well-being of the newly
displaced workers.
John Aziz The
progressive case for ending the minimum wage, The Week, 14 July 2014
ABSTRACT: This chapter discusses the
possibility of the government using common assets to set up an endowment that
will generate revenue for the people. It argues that in addition to generating
a lot of money, this strategy will provide a much better mechanism for managing
the environment for the good of current and future generations.
Karl Widerquist. "A People's Endowment." A discussion
paper in SelectedWorks of Karl Widerquist. BEPRESS, 2014.
SUMMARY: According to the publishers
abstract, At once a masterpiece of critical theory and rip-roaring radical
humor, this is one of the most spirited attacks on the notion of the "work
ethic" ever to be published. Featuring a revised edition of the original
English translation by Charles Hope Kerr, this collection also includes four of
Paul Lafargue's lesser-known critiques (including the Catechism for Investors),
as well as a biographical sketch by longtime Wobbly organizer Fred Thompson and
a new introduction. Paul Lafargue (1842?–1911) was a Cuban-born
socialist revolutionary. In 1880 Paul Lafargue, the author of the popular
essay "The Right to be Lazy," characterized the love of work "a
strange delusion" that acts as an excuse to denigrate proposals to
separate income from jobs. A new anti-authoritarian and pleasurable culture
awaits to be born, but the bosses everywhere (including in the heads of too
many proletarian leaders) wish to abort it. The exact institutions that would
separate income from jobs are clearly not spelled out in Lafargue's, and so it
is impossible to say the extent to which he is a forerunner of the basic income
movement, but certainly the idea of the right to be lazy and the desire to
separate income from work move in that direction.
Paul Lafargue (Author), Bernard Marszalek
(Editor), The Right to Be Lazy: Essays by Paul Lafargue. AK Press, 2011
SUMMARY: This article connects its arguments
about labor with basic income, concluding, [I]f the ultimate goal is
liberation from poverty, that will only occur when we abandon the delusional
quest for full employment for a system where income is separated from work. Bernard
Marszalek, editor of The Right to be Lazy (AK PRESS), can be reached at
info@righttobelazy.com. He was a member of a worker cooperative for seventeen
years.
Bernard Marszalek, Laborless Day: Why
Labor Day Needs Retooling. CounterPunch,
Weekend Edition August 29-31, 2014
[Toby Rane]
David Atkins, Basic
universal income gets even more traction – from both sides of the aisle, Washington
Monthly, 26 July 2014
[Toby Rane]
The author discusses the history and current
state of various safety net programs in Britain, as well as possible
improvements and solutions, such as the citizen's income proposed by the
organization Compass.
Tom Clark, When it
comes to our welfare system, weve lost the plot, The Guardian,
27 July 2014
[Toby Rane]
SUMMARY: Danaher explores Andrew Levines
argument regarding the right not to work, addressing potential objections as
well as the impact of automation and other technological advancements. Whether
there exists a right not to work is an important issue in the basic income
debate.
John Danaher, Should we
have a right not to work?, Institute for Ethics & Emerging
Technologies, 20 July 2014
[Toby Rane]
SUMMARY: The author argues, layoffs are
required for companies to efficiently respond to market conditions, but are
seen as bad news due to income being contingent on working. Providing a basic
income would ameliorate the difficulties laid-off workers suffer while allowing
greater efficiency.
ThoughtInfected, Lay-Offs
Should be Good News, Thought
Infection, 20 July 2014
Without using any familiar terms for Basic
Income Guarantee, this article argues for a temporary BIG as a response to the
Great Recession (or recessions generally). The U.S. Federal Reserve usually
tries to stimulate the economy during recessions through monetary policies
(such as reducing interest rates or increasing the money supply). These
policies favor large financial institutions and according to authors, Mark
Blyth and Eric Lonergan, stimulating the economy in this way is expensive and
inefficient, and can create dangerous bubbles -- in real estate, for example --
and encourage companies and households to take on dangerous levels of debt.
Instead, the authors argue that the government should simply give cash
unconditionally to citizens. They argue, In the short term, such cash
transfers could jump-start the economy. Over the long term, they could reduce
dependence on the banking system for growth and reverse the trend of rising
inequality. The transfers wouldnt cause damaging inflation, and few doubt that
they would work. The only real question is why no government has tried them.
Blyth and Lonergan suggest building up a
sovereign wealth fund (SWF) capable of paying dividends, much like the Alaska
Dividend, funded by its SWF. They claim, The Bank of England, the European
Central Bank, and the Federal Reserve already own assets in excess of 20
percent of their countries GDPs, so there is no reason why they could not
invest those assets in global equities on behalf of their citizens. They even
suggest that government could take advantage of current near zero interest
rates to spend another 20 percent of GDP buying equities, which would be likely
to return 100 percent in 15 years. It is uncertain then whether the fund would
pay dividends regularly or distribute them only during recessions. In either
case, this plan would be a significant step toward a BIG.
Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan, Print Less
but Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly to the People. Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014
Issue.
John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway and a regular blogger at Philosophical Disquisitions, has written
a series of blogs about basic income. The series contains nine articles so far,
post from December 23, 2013 to July 18, 2014. According to the authors
summary, I've
written a number of posts about the ethics and justice of the basic income
grant. I thought it might be useful to provide an index to all of them in this
post. Most of these posts look at whether an unconditional basic income grant
can be justified from a particular theoretical perspective, e.g.
feminism, libertarianism, liberal egalitarianism, and republicanism. One of
them asks whether there should be a right not to work. Items in the series
include:
John Danaher holds a PhD from University
College Cork (Ireland) and is currently a lecturer in law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His research interests range
broadly from philosophy of religion to legal theory, with particular interests
in human enhancement and neuroethics.
John Danaher, Blog
series: Philosophy and the Basic Income. Philosophical Disquisitions, July 18,
2014 [December 23, 2013 – July 17, 2014]
Toni Pickard, Thinking
BIG about welfare, inequality. Ottawa
Citizen, August 15, 2014
[Jenna van Draanen]
In this opinion piece, the author lays out an
argument for basic income on the grounds of needing to democratize the economy,
protect human rights, and allow freedom. The article argues that we need to
decentralize the creation of money to avoid having a privileged group of
bankers controlling society.
Language: French
Thierry Crouzet, Pourquoi
dfendre le revenu de base? [Why defend basic income?] Blog at
tcrouzet.com, July 16, 2014.
In this article, Noble-prize-winning economist
Paul Krugman criticizes a plan for a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) put forward
by libertarians. He does not say outright whether he believes BIG is a good or
bad idea in itself. He says instead that a libertarian plan to eliminate
costly, inefficient welfare bureaucracy and save enough money to provide a
sizeable basic income guarantee for everyone. With reference to Mike
Konczal, Krugman argues that there isnt enough inefficiency to fund such a
large initiative. Krugman writes, Actually, the cost of bureaucracy is in
general vastly overestimated. According to Krugman, The great bulk of
welfare-state spending comes from a handful of major programs, and these
programs are fairly efficient, with low administrative costs.
That's the extent of the analysis. Krugman
criticizes only this one plan for BIG. He doesn't say anything good or bad
about BIG overall or about whether it would be worth paying more taxes to
create a BIG. By criticizing one plan for BIG and saying nothing good about any
other plans, the overall implication is negative, but that is only an
implication, and it may or may not be intended.
Paul Krugman, Libertarian
Fantasies. The New York Times, Opinion
Pages: The Conscience of a Liberal,
August 9, 2014
Dylan Matthews, A
guaranteed income for every American would eliminate poverty — and it
wouldn't destroy the economy, Vox, 05 August 2014
David J. Cord, Is Finland
ready for a basic income?, Helsinki Times, 17 July 2014
[Craig Axford]
This post argues the wonderful thing about
Social Security is that it targets a specific problem, senior poverty, and it
gives seniors cash directly to fight it. A basic income guarantee would,
according to the author, function largely the same way.
Dylan Matthews, Giving everyone a basic income would work for the same reasons
Social Security does, Vox,
July 30, 2014
[Craig Axford]
The question of whether a person would be
better off with a basic job or a basic income is explored in this post.
Jeremy Scheff, Basic income vs. basic job, dumbmatter.com, November 13, 2013
[Craig Axford]
The left can agree because basic income
provides economic security for all Americans. The right can get behind it
because its a form of economic security that doesnt interfere with market
forces as much as other forms of social security, such as raising the minimum
wage.
Paul Hiebert, Universal Basic Income: Something We Can All Agree on?,
Pacific Standard: The Science of Society,
July 31, 2014
[Craig Axford]
Indonesias aged and disabled populations are
among its most vulnerable. A basic income guarantee covering the roughly
15% of Indonesias population that fall within these categories would
significantly reduce inequality and improve quality of life.
Mickael B. Hoelman and Sugeng Bahagijo, Arguing for Indonesian basic income, The Jakarta Post, July 22, 2014
[Jenna van Draanen]
Thomas Wells, The Robot
Economy and the Crisis of Capitalism: Why We Need Universal Basic Income. Religion & Ethics, ABC, July 17,
2014.
[Jenna van Draanen]
This piece discusses feminist perspectives
both for and against basic income as well as examines the possible effects of
basic income for women. The author brings up potential effects such as:
changing womens labor market participation, the amount of money women (and
mothers) receive, flexibility in
work choice, re-valuation of unpaid work, positive psychological effects,
bargaining power, loss of non-pecuniary advantages of paid labor, depreciation
of womens human capital, and increased systematic discrimination against
women. The article then describes four feminist arguments in favor of BI and
two feminist arguments against BI and concludes that there is no single
feminist position on this debate.
John Danaher, Feminism and the
Basic Income (Part One). Philosophical
Disquisitions, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, July 17,
2014.
[Jenna van Draanen]
Siraj Ravel, A
Cryptocurrency for a Global Basic Income Svbtl. July 14, 2014.
[Jenna van Draanen]
Harry Shutt, The Case for a Basic Income. Blog at Wordpress.com Articles, March
2013.
[Toby Rane]
SUMMARY: Danaher explores Andrew Levines
argument regarding the right not to work, addressing potential objections as
well as the impact of automation and other technological advancements. Whether
there exists a right not to work is an important issue in the basic income
debate.
John Danaher, Should we have
a right not to work?, Institute for Ethics & Emerging
Technologies, 20 July 2014
[Toby Rane]
SUMMARY: The author argues, layoffs are
required for companies to efficiently respond to market conditions, but are
seen as bad news due to income being contingent on working. Providing a basic
income would ameliorate the difficulties laid-off workers suffer while allowing
greater efficiency.
ThoughtInfected, Lay-Offs
Should be Good News, Thought
Infection, 20 July 2014
SUMMARY: This article argues for a citizens
wages to all income without any obligation, saying such a scheme would go a
long way in fighting poverty, and asking why are there no politicians who talk
about it. The author presents the idea in general, and asks whether we can
afford it, writing about poverty traps and about the moral issue of
reciprocity. She concludes; this will be a tremendous help for those who find
themselves in the labor market's external borders, at the intersection of work
and social security.
Nanna Kildal, "Hvorfor
snakker vi ikke om borgerlnn? [Why dont we talk about Citizen Wage?]." NRK Ytring, 12 July 14.
Scott Santens' article, "Why Should
We Support the Idea of an Unconditional Basic Income?" originally
published on Medium has now been translated into Chinese and posted onto
BuzzOrange – a news and media
aggregation site akin to a Taiwanese BuzzFeed or The Huffington Post – by
site contributor, Ann.
The Chinese language version can be read here.
Scott Santens, "解決本世紀經濟問題的根本方法：每人每月發三萬台幣？[Why
Should We Support the Idea of an Unconditional Basic Income?]" BuzzOrange,
25 June 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Universal Basic Income Europe (UBIE) provides
an extensive overview of basic income ideas throughout history. Beginning with Thomas More in the 16th
century, UBIE methodically and chronologically adds entries all the way into
the 21st century.
Universal Basic Income Europe, A Brief
History of Basic Income Ideas, UBIE.org,
2014.
INTRODUCTION: The material prosperity that
capitalism has wrought is the product of technology as well as markets (and
social norms and state institutions). Markets enhance the efficiency of allocation of
resources, such as human labour, between competing projects, while
technological innovations enhance the productivity of
our use of those resources, the ability to produce more with less. As Keynes
prophesised in his famous essay, Economic Possibilities
for our Grandchildren (1930), the seemingly relentless
trend of rising productivity promises to finally end the economic problem':
the struggle to overcome scarcity that has characterised the human condition
since our beginning. Finally, we can turn as a society to considering what our
enormous wealth can do for us, rather than what we must do to get it. Yet this
is not a time for complacency. Unless we intervene, the same economic system
that has produced this astonishing prosperity will return us to the Dickensian
world of winners and losers that characterised the beginning of capitalism, or
worse. The problem is this, how will ordinary people earn a claim on the
material prosperity of the capitalist economy if that economy doesn't need our
labour anymore?
The Philosophers Beard, The
looming crisis of Capitalism: Why we need Universal Basic Income, The Philosophers Beard, 30 May 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this post, Hartmann discusses the alarming
inequality in West Virginia as well as the extreme poverty many families face
in the coal-reliant state. Hartmann
acknowledges coals importance to the state by suggesting implementing a
program similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund, which distributes a dividend
funded by taxes on its oil reserves to each citizen of Alaska every year in the
form of an unconditional cash transfer, making it a form of a universal basic
income. As Alaskans benefit from
their states massive oil reserves, Hartmann thinks West Virginians should
benefit from its coal business.
Thom Hartmann, What West
Virginia can learn from Sarah Palin, Thom
Hartmann Program, 7 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
McKays article is an informed reaction to the
news that the Basic Income Canada Network has proposed a $20,000 minimum income
for all Canadians. McKay clarifies
the differences between the minimum wage debates and this minimum income plan
and then continues to cover some of the history of minimum income policies throughout
the world.
Tom McKay, The Most
Radical Idea For a Minimum Wage Hike Yet Is Being Floated in Canada, Mic, 30 June 2014.
[Josh Martin]
Warrens opinion piece urges his readers to
consider the benefits of a guaranteed income policy in his province of
Canada. He cites some of the major
arguments for a basic income and discusses the Mincome project in Manitoba in
the 1970s.
Jamie Warren, Guaranteed
income program worth a look in this province, The Western Star, 10 July 2014.
[Josh Martin]
In this interview, Wheeler asks Karl Widerquist,
co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), a few questions related to
the current landscape of basic income policies throughout the world. Widerquist provides a summary of the
BIEN International Congress in Montreal in late June and also answers questions
on technological unemployment and basic income projects throughout the world.
Wheeler lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where he
is a journalism professor and student newspaper adviser at Asbury University.
He is also a freelance writer for CNN
and The Atlantic.
David Richard Wheeler, Interview:
Basic income heroes: Karl Widerquist edition, From The Mixed-Up Files of Professor David
R. Wheeler, July 13, 2014.
[Craig Axford]
An interesting discussion of automation's implications for the economy.
Among the questions explored is "What scope is there for a 'Basic Income
Guarantee' to address the needs of everyone who will struggle to find work in
the new age of smarter robots?" Panelists included in the discussion:
writers James Hughes, Martin Ford, Gary Marchant, and Marshall Brain.
David Wood, "Robots, unemployment, and basic
income", Youtube, May 11, 2014
[Craig Axford]
In his keynote speech at the 2014 Future of Work Summit, Federico
Pistono explores the myth and reality behind an unconditional basic income
guarantee.
Federico Pistono, "What if everybody got free cash? Myths
and facts about Unconditional Basic Income", Youtube,
August 21, 2014
SUMMARY: Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson (of National Public Radios Here & Now program discuss the
possibility robots replacing many of the jobs in the American labor market with
Derek Thompson of The Atlantic.
Toward the end, discussing policy responses, the guest suggests providing
something like a basic income, under the name of guaranteed monthly annuity.
Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson, What Will Robots Mean For Jobs? New
& Now, National Pubic Radio, August 7, 2014
VIDEO: UBIE Conference: Situation of the
movement for basic income across Europe, You Tube, posted July 7 2014.
Scott Santens' article, "Why Should We Support the Idea of an
Unconditional Basic Income?" originally published on Medium has now been made available
in audio form through the free newsreader app Umano,
where popular articles are submitted to be read aloud by professional
narrators. The article has been narrated by Larry Rice, of Seattle's KOMO News and has duration of 16 minutes and 32 seconds.
It has so far been listened to over 1300 times.
Scott Santens, "Why Should We Support the Idea of an
Unconditional Basic Income?" Umano, June 2014. Read by Larry Rice.
In this TED-style talk at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota,
Josh Martin '14 of Decorah, Iowa, discusses the current failures of the U.S.
welfare state, showing why the system needs significant reform. This
leads Martin to suggest the universal basic income as a more than capable
alternative. He covers some of the major arguments for the basic income
and shares the results of basic income schemes in Namibia, India, and Alaska.
Further, he highlights the ideological flexibility of the policy in that
politicians from all ideological backgrounds can find reasons to support a
basic income.
Lastly, he proposes his own plan for an American basic income. Rolling
together the money the U.S. spends on means-tested programs (excluding Medicare
and Medicaid), child tax credits, and Social Security, the U.S. could have
around $2 trillion to spend on a basic income. This budget could afford a
program where all citizens 0-17 receive $2,000 per year, those 18-24 receive
$4,000 per year, those 25-64 receive $6,000 per year, and those 65 and up
receive $14,000 per year, effectively replacing Social Security. This
plan only costs $1.87 trillion and thus would save the U.S. $130 billion by
converting to this basic income plan.
Martin will attend the London School of Economics and Political Science
this fall for a Masters degree in Social Policy. You can email him at
joshedwardmartin@gmail.com.
Josh Martin, "A Basic Answer to Welfare: The Universal Basic
Income", STOTalks, 3 May 2014.
For
up-to-the-day news on BIG, see Basic Income
News. For links to dozens of BIG websites around the world, go to USBIGs links page. 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
Thanks to everyone who helped this issue.
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 at USBIGs website. More news about
BIG is online at BInews.org.
You may copy and circulate articles from this NewsFlash, but please mention the
source and include a link to Basic
Income News. 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 NewsFlash and the USBIG website are gladly
welcomed.
Thank you,
-Karl Widerquist, editor
Karl@Widerquist.com