As of March 26 the BIEN 2025 organizing committee has received 236 submissions (across all categories) and 317 participant registrations. Last-minute submissions will be accepted for a few more days.
Photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash
“President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi announced the Royalties for Everyone program, aiming to grant Surinamese citizens US$750 from future oil royalties with a 7% annual interest. The initiative seeks to ensure direct benefits from natural resources, enhance local financial engagement, and promote economic development ahead of the anticipated oil sales from Block 58, with implementation scheduled for 2025.
In a significant policy announcement, President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi declared the launch of the Royalties for Everyone (RVI) program that will allocate an oil royalty of US$750 to each citizen of Suriname, with an annual interest of seven percent. The payment is to be derived from future royalties after oil from offshore Block 58 is sold. This financial instrument aims to foster economic opportunities and promote a more equitable distribution of national wealth among the population. The RVI is pegged to the US dollar to ensure stability, with distributions to be made in Surinamese dollars. Special arrangements will also be made for elderly citizens and individuals with disabilities to access their funds before 2028.”
To read the full article click here
Photo by Adam Gethin on Unsplash
“President Irfaan Ali’s recent announcement of a $200,000 one-off cash grant to every household across Guyana comes during unprecedented economic growth fueled by the country’s expanding oil sector. The proposal is bold, offering immediate relief to families during a moment of rapid economic change. Yet, while the policy provides short-term financial respite, it raises critical questions about long-term economic security and sustainability, especially when considering a Universal Basic Income (UBI) framework.
As we reflect on this proposal, the broader implications of Guyana’s oil-driven transformation come into focus. How can Guyana ensure its oil wealth benefits all citizens, not just a select few? We explore the prospects and challenges of the one-off cash grant policy, examining how it aligns with—or diverges from—a true UBI system. We also consider some alternative approaches to address economic inequality, with lessons drawn from expert discussions in Transforming Guyana and reflections from recent commentaries.”
To read the full article, click here.
Abstract
“The growing popularity of basic income has led to extensive trials of the policy in numerous settings across the world. However, analysis of the politics of basic income, and in particular the political dynamics preceding and resulting from trial programs, lags. In response, we propose a research agenda that uses political scale to investigate where basic income trials emerge, how individual trials’ design and implementation parameters vary, and how those trials influence subsequent policy development. By focusing on the previously omitted variable of political scale, our approach addresses a number of key challenges in evaluating basic income trials. First, we provide a means of identifying negative and partial cases to remedy the small-N problem at the national and regional scales. Second, focusing on a given scale helps to identify specific incumbent programs and policy possibilities influenced by basic income trials. Third, our framework. draws attention to the importance of distinct, scale-based political dynamics in both securing basic income trials and converting trial programs into future policy changes.
K E Y W O R D S basic income, cash transfers, political scale, social experiments, trial programs. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.© 2025 The Author(s). Policy Studies Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Policy Studies Organization.”
To read and/or download the article, click here.
In January, BIEN’s Asia-Pacific Hub published its first newsletter, 14 pages complete with many articles and photos.
To view the newsletter, click here.
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)