The 10th annual World Forum for a Responsible Economy will be held in France from October 10 through 14. Events will be held in a different city on each consecutive day, beginning in Lille and ending in Paris. Overall, the conference features approximately 100 speakers, and is expected to draw over 5000 attendees.

The theme of this year’s World Forum for a Responsible Economy is “Envisioning the economy of the future”. In keeping with this theme, one session–held on Monday, October 10 in Lille–will focus on basic income:

The ideal of offering all people with a job that provides them with an income satisfying their basic needs is becoming a mere dream. Additionally, people are increasingly given redundant and shedding jobs. Offering people an unconditional basic income, so that they do not have to worry about mere survival, can unleash untapped potential and new opportunities. But it also comes at a cost. In this session, a number of pioneers who are involved in basic income experiments will share their experiences, fears and hopes for the future.

Speakers include Sarath Davala (sociologist and founder of the BIEN affiliate India Network for Basic Income), Michael Bohmeyer (entrepreneur and founder of the non-profit Mein Grundeinkommen), and Olli Kangas (researcher at Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, which is currently planning the country’s basic income experiment).

Dean Rossouw of the Ethics Institute of South Africa will moderate the discussion.

For more information, see the website of the World Forum for a Responsible Economy and, specifically, its description of the session “Basic Income Grant: liberating or limiting human potential?


Reviewed by Genevieve Shanahan 

Image from Place Mitterand, Lille, France CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 todaysart