The Guardian on 15 February 2022 has an article “Basic income pilot scheme for care leavers to be trialled in Wales.”
“All young people leaving care in Wales at the age of 18 are to be offered the chance to take part in a basic income pilot scheme under which they will receive £1,600 a month for up to two years.”
At 9 to 10 AM London time, or 6 to 7 PM Seoul time, on Monday, 21 February, the Korea Inequality Research Lab and LAB2050 are organizing an International Roundtable webinar “Will Korea Be the First Country to Introduce Universal Basic Income?” This timely webinar comes just over two weeks before Korea’s March 9 presidential election in which UBI is a major issue being discussed. To register, click here.
Panelists include leading Korean and international UBI specialists, including the Korean authors of an important paper also entitled “Will Korea Be the First Country to Introduce Universal Basic Income?” available by clicking here.
The panelists are:
Philippe Van Parijs (University of Louvain)
Malcolm Torry (University of Bath)
Joung Woo Lee (Kyungpook National University)
Nam-hoon Kang (Hanshin University)
Jong-sung You (Korea Inequality Research Lab, Gachon University)
Jieun Choi (Seoul National University)
A new and timely academic paper, “Will South Korea Be the First Country to Introduce Universal Basic Income?” by Jong-sun You of Gachon University and Jieun Choi of Seoul National University is now available in pdf by clicking here. This paper has the same title as the International Round Table webinar scheduled for February 21 and complements the Opinion article, “This South Korean Presidential Election is Vital” by Guy Standing published on the BIEN website on January 18.
Here is a summary of the paper:
“South Korea could become the first country in the world to implement a nation-wide universal basic income (UBI) program. Lee Jae-myung, the ruling liberal Democratic Party’s presidential candidate has pledged to introduce a UBI as well as categorical basic incomes for youth and rural residents. In particular, Lee’s proposal to finance a UBI with taxes on land holdings and carbon emissions has provoked political controversies. This article introduces Lee’s plan for introducing basic income schemes and financing strategies, outlines the political and socioeconomic background and significance of introducing such programs, and discusses the prospects for implementation.”
Enno Schmidt, Götz Werner Chair (GWP) of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory at Germany’s University of Frieburg, interviewed Karl Widerquist, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University-Qatar, in October 2021. You can view the interview on YouTube here.
The interview covers a wide range of basic income topics, including the pros and cons of basic income experiments, options for funding basic income, and the ups and downs of public interest in basic income since the 1970s.
Guy Standing will debate Lord Robert Skidelsky on Tuesday 1 February 2022 at 5pm GMT. This will be a public webinar sponsored by the Progressive Economy Forum that brings together a council of eminent economists and academics to develop a new macroeconomic program for the UK.
For details on the debaters and discussants and a link to register for the webinar, 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)