by Will Wachtmeister | Dec 3, 2015 | News
Finnish politics commentator and French basic income pioneer Alain Lefebvre writes an in-depth article detailing Finland’s plans for a national UBI.
Alain Lefebvre
The central government in Helsinki has called on experts to put forward different implementation schemes that are consistent with the Finnish Constitution by March 2016, in order to make a final choice by November 2016 and then launch a nationwide pilot in 2017.
Lefebvre offers a range of insights into the Finnish initiative, which at present is placing more emphasis on cutting red tape and marginal tax rates for lower incomes, as opposed to ending poverty as such.
Alain Lefebvre, “Basic income: How Finland Plans to Implement The First Nationwide Project in the EU,” Finland Politics, 5 November 2015
by Will Wachtmeister | Dec 2, 2015 | News
Influential anti-poverty campaigner and tax expert Richard Murphy argues that UK Chancellor George Osborne’s growing tax credit tangle should be binned and replaced by basic income.
Richard Murphy
Calling tax credits “a patch intended to cover the consequences” of low pay and spiraling costs of living, Murphy writes that the chancellor’s latest reform will introduce marginal tax rates of up to 93%, a glaring but typical contradiction inherent in UK government initiatives supposed to encourage work.
Murphy, who has close links to the current opposition Labour Party leadership and various civil society organizations, finishes his article with a concise case for UBI based on poverty elimination, social security and pension simplification as well as sweeping reductions to marginal tax rates, tax evasion and benefit fraud.
Richard Murphy, “A basic income for everyone would solve Osborne’s tax credit problem” Tax Research UK, 29 October 2015
by Will Wachtmeister | Dec 1, 2015 | News
Indian economy expert Saahil Parekh writes a pro-UBI article in the Business Standard, India’s leading business daily, arguing that commodity subsidies should be scrapped and replaced by a nationwide basic income.
Saahil Parekh
Parekh shows that India can do this in a revenue-neutral and poverty-eliminating way and cites the curtailment of agricultural price distortions, crippling personal debt and corruption in public provision as significant additional benefits.
The economist also references a notable UNICEF-supported basic income study carried out in India’s Madhya Pradesh which showed that the rural pilot project actually increased work levels and economic activity in stark contrast to arguments regularly employed by anti-UBI commentators.
Saahil Parekh, “Let’s be done with subsidies already”, Business Standard (India), 13 November, 2015
SEWA Bharat, “Piloting Basic Income Transfers in Madhya Pradesh, India”, UNICEF, January 2014
by Will Wachtmeister | Nov 30, 2015 | News
Members of parliament from the Pirate Party have submitted a legislative proposal calling for the introduction of an unconditional income in Iceland, reports The Reykjavik Grapevine news site.
The Icelandic UBI Proposal (fragment). From: https://www.althingi.is/altext/145/s/0454.html
The proposal is for the Ministry of Welfare to form a working group together with the Ministry of Finance and pave the way for a UBI that will “strengthen people’s economic and social rights and eliminate poverty.”
The 3000 word proposal cites several basic income schemes as evidence, including Canada’s MINCOME initiative in the 1970s.
Paul Fontaine, “Pirates Submit Proposal For Universal Basic Income In Iceland.” The Reykjavik Grapevine, 18 November 2015
by Will Wachtmeister | Nov 23, 2015 | News
A team of UBI supporters has successfully kicked off the first initiative to crowdfund basic income in the United States.
Still taken from My Basic Income video
The so-called My Basic Income project is already off to a strong start, having raised 3,403 dollars in the first three days alone.
Once there is enough money in the pot, a randomly chosen participant will receive $1,250 a month for a full year to find out how it would change his or her life. The aim is to help the basic income movement by raising awareness about UBI.
My Basic Income was one of eight projects to emerge from the first ever Basic Income Create-A-Thon held in San Francisco earlier this month.
“Amazingly, we got the whole thing together in under 36 hours and launched it during our presentation,” Gregory Tippett – who is part of the four-strong unit behind My Basic Income – told BI News. “I think because of that we’ve had great word-of-mouth support.”
The team behind the American initiative is coached by their counterparts at German project Mein Grundeinkommen, which has been up and running for over a year.
Still taken from My Basic Income video
Mein Grundeinkommen has been an unqualified success, raising enough euros to finance one-year basic incomes set at €1,000 a month for 22 randomly chosen individuals so far.
The German and American teams held launch meetings at the Basic Income Create-A-Thon. Tippett described Mein Grundeinkommen as amazing to work with and their wisdom as contagious.
“On one hand, they really gave space for us to develop this on our own. On the other, they were also extremely straightforward with their constructive criticism and sharing what they had learned so far,” said Tippett. “For example, they really helped us gear towards the mission of telling individual, relatable stories. And at the same time they emphasized consent, i.e. they have a box people can check that says ‘If I receive the Basic Income, I’m ready to talk to the press’… but it does not disqualify you to check ‘no’ and they honor that choice.”
My Basic Income will run till January 15 next year after which it is hoped the project will be expanded and carry on with its aim of helping awareness-raising and movement-building around basic income.
Still taken from My Basic Income video
“We believe that fundamental economic support would give people the power to make more meaningful choices with how they use their time. For example, a study came out recently showing that entrepreneurs tend to be people with safety nets – so that they take the risk to try out their ideas,” said Tippett. “Of course, we don’t really know what will happen but it seems like it will be fun to find out.”
More information:
The My Basic Income project, Campaign website. Indiegogo.com, accessed 18 November 2015
The My Basic Income project, Campaign video. youtube.com, accessed 18 November 2015
Mein Grundeinkommen, Homepage statistics. Accessed 18 November 2015
Basic Income Create-A-Thon, San Francisco event (November 13-15, 2015) homepage. Accessed 18 November 2015
