by Karl Widerquist | Sep 2, 2013 | Research
Evelyn Forget
From 1974 to 1979, a basic income social experiment known under the name of “Mincome Program” took place in a small Canadian town. Evelyn Forget, researcher, is one of the very few persons who have studied the sociological impact of the guaranteed income experiment. In this interview with Stanislas Jourdan, she explains more about her findings, 30 years after the experiment ended.
Stanislas Jourdan, “A Way to Get Healthy: Basic Income Experiments in Canada,” Basic Income UK, August 7, 2013. This article was first published in french on revenudebase.info
by Karl Widerquist | Sep 1, 2013 | Research
[Robin Ketelaars – Vereniging Basisinkomen]
In a thesis of the study in Dutch Law at the Open University of the Netherlands 2012, (now Mr.) Baukje Hilarides investigated the possibilities and bottlenecks in the implementation of the Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) (OBi in Dutch) in Netherlands. Is the Unconditional Basic Income achievable in the Netherlands? Her answer is: “Yes, because the UBI is line with the Constitution and does not appear to be inconsistent with Article 1 ECtHR FP[1]. The UBI is also affordable and can positively influence society and the economy”. It will find the author’s current commitment to full employment obsolete, because the automation unemployment will increase rather than decrease. The conclusion at the end of the thesis is that the introduction of the UBI in the Netherlands is feasible. However, extensive research is needed before one can implement the UBI
Baukje Hilarides, “Is het onvoorwaardelijk basisinkomen haalbaar in Nederland?” Open University, Leeuwarden 2012: https://dspace.ou.nl/bitstream/1820/4485/1/hilarides.pdf
[1] https://basisinkomen.nl/wp/basisinkomen-positief-getoetst-aan-de-grondwet-en-artikel-1-ep-evrm/
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 31, 2013 | News
Roisin Mulligan of Dublin, Ireland won the Basic Income Studies (BIS) Essay Prize for papers presented at the 14th Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) Congress held in Munich, Germany in September 2012. She received the award for her paper entitled “UBI and Recognition Theory – A Tangible Step towards an Ideal.”
The BIS Essay Prize is organized by BIS in association with BIEN. The prize encourages promising research on basic income and related policies and is awarded to an essay that exemplifies a high standard of quality and original basic income research. The prize winner’s paper is published as an article in BIS.
Two additional individuals who presented papers at Munich received honorable mention. They are (in alphabetical order): Dr. Tomohiro Inoue, Tokyo, Japan, “The economic sustainability of a Basic Income under the Citizen-oriented Monetary Regime” and Dr. Nam Hoon Kang, Seoul, South Korea, “The necessity and distributional effects of ecological basic income in Korea.”
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 30, 2013 | Research
[Jason Burke Murphy – USBIG]
David Harvey, a Marxist professor of Geography at City University of New York, gives a list of important “post-capitalist” measures. A Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) will be needed if money is reformed to prevent the centralization of power. He argues that money should lose value if held over time “like air miles.” BIG prevents this loss of value from rendering anyone vulnerable.
David Harvey, “The Importance of Post-Capitalist Imagination“, Red Pepper, 2013.
David Harvey -from Red Pepper
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 29, 2013 | News
[Jason Burke Murphy – USBIG]
Reporters David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein interview the founders of GiveDirectly and travel to a village in Kenya where they gave many inhabitants $1,000 with no conditions. Most of these recipients were getting by spending about that same amount every year.
Bernard Omondi got $1,000 from GiveDirectly. -Jacob Goldstein/NPR
Reporters were able to verify that many recipients made purchases with long-term beneficial consequences. These included roof repair, motorcycles for a taxi service, and a dowry for marriage. Interestingly, many recipients had a very low assessment of their neighbor’s use of the money. Reporters found that most neighbors were making good choices.
GiveDirectly is conducting very intensive surveys to compare their approach to that made by other charities. They have received support from Google Giving.
GiveDirectly is not issuing a Basic Income Guarantee. They only give once to each recipient and they do not give to everyone in an area. They often choose recipients based on simple indicators of deep poverty-like grass roofs. They are giving money unconditionally and their arguments for their approach mirror closely argument for a BIG.
Planet Money also talked about another charity, Heifer Project International, which gives livestock to poor people alongside training in how to raise them. Recipients promise to give the next offspring as a gift to someone else in need.
Planet Money asserts that future research would determine which approach solves more problems for poor people. The podcast mentions government cash transfer programs like those found in Mexico and Brazil. These have soft conditions like school attendance and immunizations. They are also a regularly occurring source of income.
More people are hearing about unconditional cash transfer and government development programs like Brazil’s Bolsa Familia. This is likely to make a guaranteed income more familiar when people do hear about it.
Several different version of this report were broadcast on different NPR programs:
A family in western Kenya received this cow as part of a Heifer International program. -NPR
A 28-minute report was broadcast on This American Life:
David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein, “Money for Nothing and Your Cows for Free,” as part of the one-hour episode, “I Was Just Trying to Help“, This American Life, August 16, 2013
A 6-minute report was broadcast on Planet Money:
David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein, “The Charity That Just Gives Money to Poor People“, Planet Money, August 23, 2013.
Morning Edition and All Things Considered broadcast a two-part story on this report:
David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein, “The Charity That Just Gives Money to Poor People“, Morning Edition, August 23, 2013 and David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein, “Cash, Cows, and the Rise of Nerd Philanthropy,” All Things Considered, August 23, 2013.
