This page contains links to websites with information about BIG. The pages differ considerably in their point of view. Some promote a BIG, some promote it as part of a larger strategy; some promote variations on the idea; some oppose it altogether. The fact that these websites are listed here is not considered a recommendation of their program, simply a location to find information. Additional links and discussion may be found in the USBIG Newsletters and on our About Us page.
Organizations
International Groups
THE BASIC INCOME EARTH NETWORK (BIEN) is an international organization for sharing BIG information. BIEN maintains an extensive website, publishes a newsletter, and organizes conferences promoting basic income around the world. It recognizes many National and Regional Affiliates around the world, including USBIG.
USBIG collaborates with BIEN Canada every year to organize the North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress. The location alternates annually between the US and Canada.
WORLD CITIZENS ACTION supports a plan for a Basic Income for all funded by the United Nations. Contact: Lisinka Ulatowska.
US Groups
US Basic Income websites include:
The Alaska Permanent Fund pays a partial Basic Income Guarantee to all Alaska residents funded from oil revenue.
Council of Georgist Organizations
Journals & Essays
THE TOP 10 BASIC INCOME ARTICLES OF 2018, compiled by Scott Santens includes the following articles:
- 10) “The Role of Luck in Life Success Is Far Greater Than We Realized” by Scott Barry Kaufman for Scientific American
- 9) “The New York Times Gets the Finland Basic Income Story Wrong” by Matt Bruenig for People’s Policy Project
- 8) “The Great Equalizer: What Dolly Parton and a Tennessee Wildfire Can Teach About Universal Basic Income” by Daniela Perdomo for In The Mesh
- 7) “Nearly Half of You Reading This Have Bullshit Jobs” by Nick Romeo for the Daily Beast
- 6) “Universal Resource Inheritance” by Dan Larimer
- 5) “Basic Income or Basic Services” by Simon Duffy for the Centre for Welfare Reform AND “Universal Basic Services and how it compares to Universal Basic Income” by Jack Perry for Ideas For Today
- 4) “The Labor Market Impacts of Universal and Permanent Cash Transfers: Evidence from the Alaska Permanent Fund” by Damon Jones and Ioana Elena Marinescu
- 3) “Smart money: Why the world should embrace universal basic income” by Annie Lowrey for The Globe and Mail
- 2) “The Desire For Work As An Adaptive Preference” by Michael Cholbi for Autonomy
- 1) “Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijacking Utopia” by Scott Alexander of Slate Star Codex
THE BOSTON REVIEW included seventeen articles on the basic income guarantee by Philippe Van Parijs and others in its October-November 2000 issue. These articles have been jointly published as a book entitled, “What’s Wrong with a Free Lunch?” The full text of the articles can be found on line at this direct link: http://bostonreview.net/BR25.5/contents.html.
BASIC INCOME STUDIES is the first academic journal on basic income. Several members of the USBIG Coordinating Committee or Advisory Board have been published in this journal.
JAMESROBERTSON.COM includes three essays on BIG:
- 1994: “Benefits and Taxes: A Radical Strategy”
- 2000: “Financial and Monetary Policies for an Enabling State”
- 2003: “The Role of Money and Finance: Changing a Central Part of the Problem into a Central Part of the Solution”
His approach is that people should pay for the value of the “common resources” they take from the common pot and that at least part of the resulting revenue should be distributed to every citizen as a rightful income. The basic income would be financed by a “tax shift” away from existing taxes to other sources of public revenue, including: taxes on land, natural resources, and pollution; fees and license charges (e.g. for traffic congestion and use of the radio spectrum for telecommunications); revenue from collective ownership of assets; and the value of money put into circulation as part of the (official currency) money supply. He argues that the same approach should be applied globally as well as nationally; it would result in a more efficient as well as a more just economy, globally and nationally.
SCOTT SANTENS’S Top 10 articles of 2017 on basic income.
THE POLICY LIBRARY has a variety of essays related to Basic Income. Search site for “basic income”.
SHORT ESSAY ON BASIC INCOME by Andrew Usher (via basicincome.org)
AN ARTICLE BY UK INDYMEDIA ENDORSES BIG. UK Indymedia a network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists that offers noncommercial coverage of social and political issues. The article, entitled “Gobal Social Rights Worldwide Sink the G8!,” is on line at: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345082.html.
ROBIN HOOD WAS RIGHT: Dan O’Sullivan in Daily Kos online.
THE CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR A GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME – An article in The Atlantic online magazine.
CROOKED TIMBER BLOG DISCUSSES BIG:
- An interesting debate on BIG and Stakeholder Grants is running on the Crooked Timber blogsite. The discussion involves people using their own names and many of them are prominent social scientists. The discussion is based on proposals by Philippe Van Parijs, Anne Alstott, and Bruce Ackerman. Good references to factual information relevant to the BIG debate can be found in the discussion.
- Discussion of Charles Murray’s BIG proposal.
- The blog on the Namibian basic income experiment is a widely-read political and academic blog with posts written mostly by academics. It was rated by the Guardian Newspaper (UK) as number 33 on a list of the world’s 50 most important blogs. Ingrid Robeyns is a professor in Practical Philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam and a regular contributor to Crooked Timber. Her most recent article (June 2, 2009), entitled “The Basic Income Grant Experiment in Namibia,” is a well-informed discussion of the Namibian experiment to date.
Videos
USBIG has finally set up a new YouTube page, with all videos featured on this page included, as well as new videos. More will be added regularly. (We no longer have access to our old page, so if you were the one to set it up, please get in touch).
We welcome your comments on these videos and if you are interested in becoming a social media volunteer for this page, please contact us. UBI is in the news all the time now and there is a lot of information out there to comb through.
Why the U.S. Should Provide Universal Basic Income
Aug 16, 2018 | 62 Videos
by The Atlantic
America is the richest civilization in history. Why, then, are our living standards so low compared to those of other wealthy democracies?
“There’s a big idea out there that could help solve this, ” says The Atlantic writer Annie Lowrey. “It’s called a universal basic income, ” In a new animated video, Lowrey argues that UBI–a concept that has existed for more than 500 years–would help close the income inequality gap, eliminating poverty and increasing mobility and opportunity for all American citizens.
Read more about UBI in Lowrey’s new book. Give People Money. How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World.
Basic Income Visuals (YouTube)
This series includes conversations with the late economist Milton Friedman. the 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang. and many others.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8f0bqKU2-SyNSnA0EiVGfg?view_as=subscriber
What is a Basic Income?
Video & Audio Series on Basic Income (YouTube)
Joerg Drescher has compiled a video and audio series on Basic Income and posted it on YouTube. Some of the entries interviews are conducted by Drescher. Others are from video archives. The series includes discussion of basic income by former Alaska Governor Jay Hamond, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Guy Standing, Karl Widerquist, John Tomlinson, Senator Eduardo Suplicy, and others. The series playlist is online at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BODinUA#g/c/3DD864D8692717D5
Top 10 Basic Income Videos of 2017 selected by Scott Santens
Universal Basic Income for Everyone Rich and Poor
by Tom Minogue Hastings
(click on icon at top left corner of video to see all videos in playlist)
Global Ethics Corner Slideshow (YouTube)
Can basic income grants work for those living in extreme poverty? Or are grants discouraging people from taking individual responsibility? This Global Ethics Corner slideshow is based on the Namibian pilot project. It is part of a weekly series from the Carnegie Council:
Basic Income & Haiti (Facebook & You Tube)
For further information: http://www.cceia.org (via basicincome.org)
Websites
WIKIPEDIA ENTRY ON BASIC INCOME: The free, on-line encyclopedia written by its readers contains a short article on basic income, some of which seems to be taken from the USBIG site. If you want to read or improve this article, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income.
THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES (CSDS) has been talking about some form of BIG for 30 years.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR UNIVERSAL INHERITANCE proposes a one-time basic capital grant financed out of inheritance taxes for Britain for the purpose of creating greater equality of opportunity.
Progress.org promotes using land taxes to support a universal basic income guarantee.
CLAWS (CREATING LIVABLE ALTERNATIVES TO WAGE SLAVERY) actively promotes alternatives to the wage slavery mindset and what they call “The Cult of the Job” which equates a job with “making a living”. The website includes essays, book excerpts and articles by Bob Black, Robert Anton Wilson, Bertrand Russell, Buckminster Fuller, Jean Liedloff and others who are critical of the cult of the job.
THE JOAN BARDINA STUDIES CENTER contains political and economic proposals against poverty and corruption, using a system called “basic revenue.” The website contains articles and books in seven languages including Catalan, Castilian Spanish, English, French, Italian, German and Esperanto.
SOCIAL CREDIT AND NATIONAL DIVIDEND: Social Credit is a comprehensive economic proposal that includes a basic income under the name of the National Dividend. The Social Credit movement promotes a national dividend as part of its wider policy for monetary and fiscal reform, and has its origins in Alberta in the 1920s. There are several sites on the web promoting “Social Credit”:
- Social Credit School of Studies: http://www.ecn.net.au/~socred/
- Social Credit in the UK: http://www.douglassocialcredit.com/
- List serve discussing Social Credit on Topica.com, contact: william_b_ryan@oneboxl.com
- http://www.globaljusticemovement.org
- http://www.globaljusticemovement.net/
- http://www.cesj.org
- http://www.democrats.org.nz/
FAIRTAX.ORG endorses a BIG as part of an overall reform of the tax system.
THE HALF BAKERY is a website that specializes in informal discussions of political and social issues. It has a discussion of basic income at: http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Basic_20income
MARSHAL BRAIN: This website examines the link between technological advancement and basic income. Noted author, Marshall Brain (author of “The Way Stuff Works”) has endorsed a basic income guarantee of $25,000 a year on the grounds of the need for economic security in an age where more and more of our output is produced with robotic rather than human labor. Also see:
- Why Our Emerging Robotic Nation Needs a Basic Income Guarantee
- How would your life change if you received $25,000 per year simply for being a a United States citizen?
- Marshal Brain, IEET Fellow
LAWSOMONOMY is the provision of a guaranteed line of credit rather than a guaranteed income. Every individual over 21 years of age would be allowed a certain amount of credit for investment purposes, without requirement of collateral. When the amount is drawn no more will be given until the earlier obligations have been met. http://www.lawsonomy.org/DCEverybody100.html.
GLOBAL BASIC INCOME FOUNDATION argues for the introduction of a global basic income, but also advocates for a national basic income in different countries.
THE FREE LUNCH by Charles Bazlinton, is a book focusing on the “valuable benefits that flow from gifts of nature or which arise solely because society exists.” The author has launched a website exposing his views. http://www.the-free-lunch.com/
LIVABLE INCOME FOR EVERYONE (LIFE) was founded in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) in 2003 to promote the implementation of universal guaranteed livable income in every country in the world. Its website includes discussion, statistics, and other info on BIG.
Earth Rights Institute: This website focuses on human’s equal right to natural resources, and it contains articles connecting a Citizens’ Dividend to Resource Rents. It also has an article on The Alaska Permanent Fund. Contact: Alanna Hartzok
RISE UP ECONOMICS is a progressive plan to ensure economic security for all through a $10,000 annual refundable tax credit for all Americans. It will stimulate the economy, eliminate poverty, protect the middle class, and help change work as we know it.
NEW ZEALAND’S WELFARE MESS (via basicincome.org) According to Susan St. John, “A comprehensive review of the welfare state in New Zealand for the 21st century social and economic conditions is well overdue. Longer term reform may also involve the use of basic income ideas such as provided by refundable tax credits”.
“COMMON PURPOSE” MANIFESTO, (via basicincome.org) by Ben Wallace, includes a plea for basic income: “Because direct income equality from free trade is impossible, and free trade is vital, a shared base income, ensuring equal opportunity for all to realise potential, must be created by sharing the earnings we make on our trade (the earnings we make from sale of our products and services after our expenses involved in producing them).”
BASIC INCOME SIMULATION (via basicincome.org) Keith Rankin (Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, Unitec New Zealand) has published a number of tables that show, for individual taxpayers, average and marginal tax rates for: the status quo; conservative reform options that recognise the comparatively high rates of tax that low income New Zealanders pay; and less conservative (but even more principled) “refundable tax credit” options that integrate a flat tax (inclusive of ACC) with a basic universal benefit.
EKATA PLATFORM (FORMERLY THE BASIC INCOME PROJECT) – Project is to build a smart phone application that uses a type of digital currency which gets injections of unconditional basic income for communities and individuals to start using in their initiatives.
MORE UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME LINKS – This web page has a collection of links to articles and websites on basic income.
Universal Basic Income For Everyone, by Tom Minogue Hastings
SCOTT SANTENS is a writer and a promoter of basic income for all. This website includes links to his articles, press releases, and media appearances.
Interviews
KARL WIDERQUIST’S INTERVIEW WITH CHANGE SURFER RADIO:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=7190. Dr J. Hughes interviewed Dr. Widerquist for 40 minutes about his proposal for all citizens to receive a guaranteed income from the government
CAROL PATEMAN’S INTRODUCTION TO BIG ON WEB:
Titled “The Equivalent of the Right to Land, Life, and Liberty? Democracy and the Idea of a Basic Income”, Carole Pateman, a professor of Political Science at UCLA introduces Basic Income in a 50-minute lecture. After the first 10 minutes of introduction it is a three-part lecture on 1) What is a BIG, 2) What are its advantages, and 3) What are the current criticisms. It is simple enough for newcomers to the subject. The lecture is available in both streaming audio and streaming video at: http://www.oid.ucla.edu/webcast/frl.
INTERVIEW WITH GÖTZ WERNER, IN ENGLISH: One of the numerous interviews with Götz Werner, currently the most prominent advocate of basic income in Germany.
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL HOWARD:
“Interviews on Basic Income for Wide Angle television-Episode 29”
(with extra content) “Interviews on Basic Income for Wide Angle television-Episode 29-Extra”