by Jenna van Draanen | May 22, 2016 | News
FEATURED IMAGE: OLCF/VIMEO UNDER A CC BY 3.0 LICENSE obtained from https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/16/come-on-baby-dont-fear-the-automator/
This article, recently featured in Tech Crunch, tells readers that the real problem is not robots stealing their jobs (which he thinks should be celebrated) but actually that full-time jobs are assumed to be the fundamental economic mechanism of our society and that we do not have the flexibility and creativity to consider alternative structures. Evans says we ought to be concerned about the trend towards job atomization – which he says is the replacement of long-term, full-time work with occasional, short-term contract gigs.
He notes that a decent minimum wage is a good place to start in addressing some of the issues that atomization will bring about, but that in the long run we will need to share the fruits of what should be a golden future with the precariat on an ongoing basis. For this, he looks to basic income. He writes, “A universal basic income may seem like a drastic change — but I submit that when technology ushers in what should be a giddily wonderful future, and we react as if it’s a terrifying horror to be feared, a drastic change is exactly what is called for.”
Jon Evans, “We should be worried about job atomization, not job automation.” Tech Crunch, April 17, 2016.
by Jenna van Draanen | May 1, 2016 | News
On April 9, 2016, the Basic Income Nova Scotia group held a conference titled “Basic Income Guarantee: The Time is Right” at the Halifax Central Library to discuss Basic Income in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The conference attracted many individuals from the east coast of Canada, and beyond. In attendance at the conference was the Halifax Mayor, Mike Savage. He publicly tweeted his support for BI from the conference saying, “Now is the time to take a serious look at basic annual guaranteed income. Today’s talks are needed to end poverty.”
In addition, Waye Mason, the local councillor for Halifax South Downtown, said that he was a fan of the idea of basic income, about which he said, “you’re talking about the best way to help people who are in serious need in terms of economic and health issues that are driven by not having enough money to live comfortably above the poverty line.” He noted that it was “time we really took steps toward implementing it.”
Rob Rainer, from the Basic Income Canada Network, was among those who spoke at the conference. He said, “this is actually a very, very good return on investment. For every dollar we invest in basic income, we’re going to yield multiple dollars in benefits downstream.”
For more on the conference, see the following sources:
Steve Silva, “‘Time to take a serious look at basic annual guaranteed income’: Halifax mayor” Global News, April 9, 2016
Rachel Ward, “Halifax basic income supporters explore poverty issues,” CBC, April 9, 2016
Aleksandra Sagan, “Work woes, evolving technology behind push for basic income,” The Canadian Press, Global News, April 17, 2016
by Jenna van Draanen | Apr 19, 2016 | News
This event, to be held April 19-21, 2016, is being held in Mexico and organized jointly by the Institute Belisario Dominguez (IBD) of the Senate and the Regional Office of Mexico of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA).
Image obtained from: https://www.redrentabasica.org/rb/el-senado-de-la-republica-de-mexico-y-la-cepal-organizan-un-seminario-internacional-sobre-la-renta-basica-y-la-distribucion-de-la-riqueza/
The event is scheduled to have significant representation from experts on basic income, researchers, and policy makers and highlights evidence from international basic income experiments and plans. The structure of the seminar resembles a conference, with the addition of several opportunities for dialogue and the inclusion of key representatives from the Senate and other governmental bodies. The event concludes with a film screening of “In the Same Boat” by its producer Rudy Gnutti.
The schedule for the event can be seen online here.
Source: Red Renta Básica, “The Senate of the Republic of Mexico and ECLAC organized an international seminar on the basic income and wealth distribution [El Senado de la República de México y la CEPAL organizan un seminario internacional sobre la renta básica y la distribución de la riqueza]. www.redrentabasica.org, April 4, 2016
by Jenna van Draanen | Apr 18, 2016 | News
Image source: https://www.fractieklein.nl/klein/over-norbert/
On February 15, 2016, Norbert Klein of the Vrijzinnige Partij (Liberal Party) issued a press release detailing the initiative that he proposed to the Lower House of Parliament on January 26, 2015 in order to put basic income on the national agenda in the Netherlands.
Klein notes that, “more and more local, regional initiatives are being developed for certain forms of a basic income, but that only involves a no-rule benefit. It is time for the national politics to seriously start looking at the unconditional basic income for everyone.”
In response to Klein’s submission, the Lower House of Parliament decided on February 2, 2016 to address his proposal and asked the government to respond to the note.
In his press release, Norbert Klein also writes that, “the economic crisis, the many sequential cutbacks and the increasing automation and robotisation have been of major influence to the employment market. We must respond to this. The basic income offers a possible solution. The huge advantage of a basic income is that people will get more opportunities to develop themselves in the direction they prefer, a very important principle for liberal politics.”
BI NEWS has posted other stories on the local activities in Holland related to basic income. See here and here for more details.
Sources:
Mirjam Hamelink, Press Release: A Basic Income for Everyone. Policy officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, klein@tweedekamer.nl
Norbert Klein, Member House of Representatives Dutch Parliament, Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal www.vrijzinnigepartij.nl
by Jenna van Draanen | Feb 28, 2016 | News
In response to the recent job posting from Y Combinator for a basic income, Noah Kulwin writes an article summarizing much of the research on basic income that has already been conducted.
He reminds readers that Y Combinator, the San Francisco incubator, wants to fund someone to conduct a study about “basic income,” something we have previously posted about here.
Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock
For the full article see here:
Noah Kulwin, “Y Combinator Wants to Study Universal Income. Here’s Where it Can Start” Re/code. January 27, 2016.
