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News on the global Basic Income debate
ALASKA: The state’s mini-basic income comes under increasing attack
Alaska's small basic income, the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), is coming under increasing political attacks as the state's fiscal crisis grows. the dividend, in place since 1982, has been incredibly popular, but the double-hit of declining oil prices and declining...
FINLAND: Government Forms Research Team to Design Basic Income Pilots
The Finnish government has just taken the first step towards delivering on its promise to conduct a basic income pilot by 2017.
Portugal: First pro-Basic Income congressman gets elected to parliament
Political party PAN - Pessoas, Animais, Natureza - a minority party in Portugal since its inception in 2009, has increased its votes in the most recent general election (which was on the 4th of October) by 30% relative to 2011. This has allowed PAN to finally elect...
ITALY: Friuli-Venezia Giulia region introduces a minimum income experiment
The center-left government of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia is about to roll out a minimum income experiment – the actual wording used in the legislation is “measures of active inclusion and income support”. It was approved in June by the regional...
Oren Cass, “Basic income won’t fix America’s social divide”
As researchers observe a growing income and social divide in the United States, some are calling for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) approach to remedy the problem. Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, argues in a Washington Post article that he does...
Jonathan Coppage, “The terrible cost of universal basic income”
Too much reliance on the market or too much reliance on government both unravel societal bonds, argues American Conservative associate editor Jonathan Coppage. In a Washinton Post article, Coppage said even if a Universal Basic Income (UBI) seems reasonable, he thinks...
Roy Bahat, “To support innovation, subsidize creators”
One of the criticisms of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is that it would harm innovation because creators would be taxed to pay for the income of others. However, Roy Bahat, the head of Bloomberg Beta, argues in a Washington Post article that a UBI may actually have...
PORTUGAL: New book from authors André Barata and Renato Miguel do Carmo released
Political activists and university professors André Barata and Renato Miguel do Carmo have publicly presented the release of their new book, entitled "O futuro nas mãos - de regresso à política do bem comum" ("The future in our hands - back to common good...
Basic Income NYC, “what would you do?”
This video was filmed by Basic Income NYC (the Universal Basic Income movement in the Greater New York City Area) on Basic Income Week. It asks passers-by what they would do with $1000 a month every month for the rest of their lives, and it receives some interesting...
Matt Bruenig, “Tired of capitalism? There could be a better way”
In order to address the negative aspects of capitalism, governments have created institutions such as the welfare state. Even with these programs, Matt Bruenig, a researcher of poverty at the Demos think tank, said in a Washington Post article that a Universal Basic...
BIEN Congresses
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)