by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 23, 2015 | News
From https://klokwerk-tekst.nl/
News portal Sargasso.nl runs an opinion piece on the condition-free benefit payment experiments currently being developed by several green and socially liberal local authorities in the Netherlands.
Specialist commentator Klokwerk warns that the pilot schemes may fail to generate the hoped-for evidence in favor of basic income because they won’t test dynamic effects on labor markets and benefit uptake choices.
Klokwerk’s article argues that in order to be meaningful, Dutch pilot projects must include giving the working poor rights to payments, as well as seeing what current recipients do if they are freed from conditionality.
Klokwerk, “Proeven aan het basisinkomen: de vrije-inloopbijstand.”, Sargasso, May 31, 2015.
by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 22, 2015 | News
Lawyer Joseph Chloupek has put forward a proposal for a US sovereign wealth fund that would provide a basic income of US$25,000 a year. The proposed approach aims to establish a political-economic modus vivendi between liberals and conservatives by giving each side something “they say they desire”.
The proposal’s starting point would be to “eliminate all tax exemptions secretly written into the tax code” whereupon the proceeds would be invested into a national trust account paying out an inflation-adjusted $25,000 a year at intervals chosen by the recipient. Alternatively, new legislation could direct the Fed to deposit US$10 trillion directly into the fund, according to Chloupek.
Chloupek also advocates that all income-based taxes for individuals and organizations are replaced with a 5% tax on all transactions cleared through the banking system, echoing the automated payment transaction tax advocated by Wisconsin professor Edgar Feige. Chloupek argues that this would help the supply of products and services match the increased demand generated by the BIG. This in turn mitigates inflationary and business-cycle pressures, both sources of current economic problems in the United States.
In this way, Chloupek’s plan explicitly aims to provide “non-paternalistic help for people’s income fluctuations for liberals, and real incentives to invest and work for conservatives.”
The mechanism of Chloupek’s trust-fund proposal is based on Alaska’s permanent fund dividend program, where state-owned oil revenue is invested in a diversified worldwide portfolio.
Chloupek’s proposal also shares characteristics with the theoretical pragmatic market socialism analysis put forward by Professor James A. Yunker in 1993. Last year, the trust fund approach joined the intellectual mainstream when Foreign Affairs ran an essay entitled “Print less but transfer more”.
Chloupek also references British economist James E. Meade’s “topsy-turvy nationalization” idea whereby government takes a 50% share of all publicly traded stocks and pays a social dividend from earnings to all citizens. The “pension-fund socialism” feared by corporate thinker Peter Drucker can be avoided by “the government being prohibited from exercising voting rights control of the businesses invested in, similar to the Federal Reserve’s employee pension fund,” according to Chloupek.
For further reading on this topic see:
Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan, “Print less but transfer more,” Foreign Affairs, September-October 2014
James A. Yunker, “Capitalism versus Pragmatic Market Socialism,” Springer Science+Business Media New York , 1993
by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 21, 2015 | News
From https://www.sociaalweb.nl/auteurs/mr-evelien-meester
Dutch social policy website Sociaalweb runs an analysis piece on whether the local unconditional basic income experiments being developed in the Netherlands are compatible with national law.
Expert judicial commentator Evelien Meester finds that introducing a basic income and sweeping away the current social security framework would be entirely compatible with the Dutch constitution.
However, Meester warns that a basic income would need to be “pretty high” from the outset as the government would be obliged to set it at living wage levels if it is to serve as a legally compliant alternative to existing social rights.
Evelien Meester “Is een onvoorwaardelijk basisinkomen juridisch mogelijk?” Sociaalweb, June 4, 2015.
by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 20, 2015 | News
From: https://enno-schmidt.weebly.com/bilder.html
The Irish Times runs an interview feature with Enno Schmidt of the Swiss Basic Income campaign.
The article, which features Schmidt’s comments as well as a cost-calculation for Ireland, was published in the run-up to Basic Income Ireland’s summer forum which took place in Dublin on June 13 [2015].
Joe Humphreys “Would an unconditional basic income save democracy or breed laziness?“ Irish Times, June 6, 2015
by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 19, 2015 | News
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson has launched the idea of pioneering Canadian basic income together with the fellow Albertan city of Calgary.
Iveson said the evidence is “overwhelming” for introducing a basic income guarantee for all Canadians and believes Alberta’s two largest cities should host initial pilot schemes.
The mayor of Edmonton also said the two cities should closely involve the new center-left government of Alberta.
Iveson said that Edmonton and Calgary “may be in a position to pilot some different solutions” and noted that as partners they may be able to assist the Province of Alberta implement a basic income guarantee pilot.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi early last month [May 9 2015] made a strong commitment to BIG and is currently building support among fellow Canadian city leaders. Iveson said that mayors like himself “can help move the needle on public acceptance” towards basic income, given Canada’s non-partisan mayoral tradition.
Rachel Notley, leader of the center-left Alberta New Democratic Party, assumed office as province premier on 24 May [2015] marking the end of an unbroken 44-year period of center-right rule in the province.
Iveson said there was scope to build pro-basic income momentum across the political spectrum, including among conservatives.
For other stories on this topic, see these sources:
Roderick Benns, “Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson speaks out in favour of a basic income guarantee,” Leaders and Legacies, June 1, 2015
Roderick Benns, “Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi vows to take ‘leadership’ on basic income guarantee issue,” Leaders and Legacies, May 9, 2015
