Zoe Williams, “Fed up with growth-focused politics? For real change, look left”

by | Oct 21, 2014 | Research

In this article, Zoe Williams surveys the options available to voters looking for a left-wing alternative. She mentions the basic income as one of the possible policies on offer from sections of the UK left, most notably the Green Party. She writes that ‘a huge amount of work has been done on a basic citizen’s income – how it could be afforded, how it could remake our perception of welfare, security, citizenship and belonging – yet very little has been said.’ This is indicative, she suggests, of a tendency on the left to ‘do the sums’ first but then fail to take things forward.

The full article is available here:

Zoe Williams, “Fed up with growth-focused politics? For real change, look left”, The Guardian, 6th October 2014

Cristina Brooks, “Tory tax cuts to take minimum-wage earners back to 2010”

by | Oct 20, 2014 | Research

In this article, Cristina Brooks deals with the UK Conservative Party’s recent pledge to reduce the tax paid by low earners. She suggests that David Cameron, the party leader, ‘should consider the £12,000 basic income handout put forward by supporters of Basic Income UK (BI), targeting the same people who would be saved by the tricky tax rebate, as a way to proportionately simplify the unfair tax system.’

The full article is available here:

Cristina Brooks, “Tory tax cuts to take minimum-wage earners back to 2010”, Basic Income UK: Towards an emancipatory welfare, 6th October 2014

Erik Brynjolfsson, Jeremy Howard, Robert Schiller, “The Great Decoupling”

by | Oct 19, 2014 | Research

Speaking as part of a roundtable discussion in the McKinsey Quarterly, Jeremy Howard suggests that we have to  ‘accept that in this new world, there’s a large group of people who can’t really add economic value anymore, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get to live a decent human life.’ In response to this, ‘we have to start thinking about the policy implications—like a basic living wage, which Germany will be introducing, or a negative income tax, which has been off the agenda for decades but deserves to be back on it. I think people should start to think about these policy implications because the point at which we need to make decisions will be upon us suddenly.’

The full article is available here:

Erik Brynjolfsson, Jeremy Howard, Robert Schiller, “The Great Decoupling”, McKinsey Quarterly, September 2014

Elizabeth May, “A $15 minimum wage will not solve inequality — but it'll help”

by | Oct 18, 2014 | Research

In this article Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, suggests the ‘implementation of a universal Guaranteed Livable Income. She argues that such a measure ‘would provide the means for every Canadian to avoid poverty. It would save the health care system, the criminal justice system, and a whole raft of other social programs from spending their valuable resources on issues whose root cause is poverty. It could easily be paid for by a modest carbon tax. It would make our economy stronger and our society more just. A GLI paid for by a carbon tax would help to bridge any perceived gap between the fights for social, labour, economic, and environmental justice. It would also help minimize the disproportionate carbon footprint of the wealthy while allowing the less wealthy the freedom to find good work, without being forced to take any job that will employ them. It would hopefully spur real change in the intertwined fights for a livable climate and a just society.’

The full article is available here:

Elizabeth May, “A $15 minimum wage will not solve inequality — but it’ll help”, Rabble, 3rd October 2014