by Josh Martin | Jul 14, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this post, Vognar jumps into a discussion on government guarantees, claiming that a minimum income guarantee like a universal basic income would be less heavy-handed than a job guarantee or other types of guarantees. An income floor would provide stability in the lives of those in poverty and would allow low-income workers to break away from unfair labor agreements with their employers. Vognar cites Martin Luther King Jr. and Charles Murray as ideologically opposed thinkers who both agree on supporting a minimum income; Vognar then goes on to claim that implementing a guaranteed minimum income will unleash a new wave of innovation and creativity in our individual passions that had been stifled by the current nine-to-five labor market structure.
David Vognar, “The Case for a Guaranteed Minimum Income”, Huffington Post, 8 July 2014
by Josh Martin | Jul 11, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this opinion piece, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences James Hansen of Columbia University discusses climate action in the United States. In his post he throws his support behind the Citizens Climate Lobby’s (CCL) recent proposal for a carbon fee-and-dividend proposal with 100% of the revenue going towards a dividend equally distributed to each citizen, culminating in a variant of an unconditional basic income.
For more information on the CCL’s proposal, click here.
James Hansen, “Too Little, Too Late? Oops?” Available on James Hansen’s university page, 19 June 2014.
Professor James Hansen of Columbia University (Source: Wikipedia)
by Josh Martin | Jul 5, 2014 | News
[Josh Martin]
The moderator of the Basic Income page on Reddit, under the username 2noame, has called on all Americans to write to their representatives in Congress encouraging them to consider supporting a universal basic income. He also includes an available template he constructed that others can use.
Here is the template:
“Dear Senator Last Name, (or Congressman/Congresswoman Last Name)
I am writing to you as one of your constituents about something that is not yet on the map of the political landscape but what I guarantee will become increasingly discussed as current conversations amplify around ongoing inequality, an increasingly strained welfare system, and ongoing automation of human labor through innovations in software and hardware. I’m talking about unconditional basic income.
I don’t know how familiar with this idea you are, but it is the idea that every U.S. citizen should receive an unconditional cash grant, given with the same regularity as a paycheck, regardless of any conditions other than citizenship, and set at a level sufficient to cover our most basic needs such as food and housing. Think of it as a Social Security check for every citizen, in the amount of about $1,000 per month per adult and perhaps $333 per child, for nothing other than being a citizen.
If this idea is new to you, I admit it can sound crazy on its face, but once you actually look into it and learn all the evidence of where forms of it exist or have been tried, including our own state of Alaska, it really starts to not only make sense, but becomes the policy option that makes the most sense of all. I understand you keep a busy schedule but please consider reading the following article as a primer to the idea. It’ll take about 12 minutes.
Article: https://medium.com/working-life/why-should-we-support-the-idea-of-an-unconditional-basic-income-8a2680c73dd3[3] (leave as is or insert your own favorite link)
I write this letter to urge you to consider looking into basic income as an idea for new legislation. If you are aware of the Oxford study that estimated 47% of all current jobs are at risk of being eliminated by technology in 20 years, and you are also aware of Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century calling for redistributive taxation to prevent capitalism from endangering our democracy, and you are also aware of the inefficiencies and inadequacies of our current safety nets, and you also recognize the need to provide stimulus to our economy to allow consumers to return to consuming and the vital importance of regrowing our middle class, then the idea of unconditional basic income will no doubt make a lot of sense to you. The question will become what is the best way of funding it.
If you get out ahead of the curve on this matter, you will be seen as having real vision, and a real understanding of where we are headed. Bill Gates himself has warned of the inevitability of labor demand being reduced by software and that he thinks people don’t “have that in their mental model.” Meanwhile Robert Reich when recently asked about basic income directly, replied that he sees it as “almost inevitable.” We need to start seriously looking into this as actively debated legislation as support for it will only continue to increase. Of this, I have no doubt. Please consider leading the way in this matter, and begin personally working towards the introduction of legislation for basic income to be voted on in Congress.
Thank you so much for your time, and if you have any questions about basic income, now or at any point in the future, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Your Name”
For more basic income news on Reddit, go to reddit.com/r/basicincome
His full post is available here.
by Josh Martin | Jul 2, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this opinion piece in the New York Times, Associate Professor of Political Science Christopher Blattman of Columbia University discusses the viability of directly giving cash with no conditions to homeless people. While the subject of handouts to the poor often raises concerns about funding substance abuse, Blattman highlights multiple studies that found no correlation between unconditional cash transfers like the basic income and expenses that would be categorized as wasteful. To Blattman, unconditional cash transfers must continued to be used.
Christopher Blattman, “Let Them Eat Cash.” The New York Times, 29 June 2014.
Image by Amanda Lanzone
by Josh Martin | Jun 18, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
SUMMARY: Pilkington’s article covers many of his objections to the basic income guarantee (BIG). While he appreciates the buzz the BIG is generating right now, he sees many potential issues including labor shortages and immigration policy dilemmas. Instead, he recommends a Jobs Guarantee program as a replacement for the BIG.
Philip Pilkington, “Money for nothing”, Al Jazeera, 6 June 2014.
Milton Friedman supported a BIG for all Americans. Source: Al Jazeera
