SUMMARY: This article argues for a citizens’ wages to all income without any obligation, saying such a scheme would go a long way in fighting poverty, and asking why are there no politicians who talk about it. The author presents the idea in general, and asks whether we can afford it, writing about poverty traps and about the moral issue
» Read moreIn a an interview with the daily newspaper Le Devoir (30 June 2014), François Blais – who was appointed Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity after the April 2014 General Election in Quebec – cautiously reiterates his support for basic income. As BIEN was holding its international conference in Montreal, Blais stressed the fact that a thorough reform of Quebec’s
» Read moreOn May 25th, 2014, regional, federal and European elections will be held in Belgium. Within the framework of its electoral campaign, the youth section of the Flemish Green Party (Jong Groen) defends 5 key proposals. Among them is the introduction of a Europe-wide basic income: “every European should receive an unconditional monthly payment that shall help him/her to lead a
» Read moreOn May 28th, 2014, the liberal think tank “Generation Libre” (Free Generation) organizes a conference on its proposed negative income tax (called “Revenu de liberté”, or Freedom Income). The conference will focus on a study by Marc de Basquiat and Gaspard Koenig. The authors will discuss with Lionel Stoleru, who proposed a similar scheme in France 40 years ago. The
» Read moreOn 7 June 2014, Basic Income Ireland organizes its “Summer Forum 2014”. Yannick Vanderborght (Saint-Louis University Brussels & Louvain University), will speak on transnational cooperation in the campaign for basic income and on recent developments in the theory and politics of basic income. His presentation will be followed by a participatory discussion. For further information and registration (free of charge),
» Read moreNo doubt most Basic Income News readers are aware of an interesting intersection where the arguments for basic income overlap with the arguments on how to best control global warming.
» Read moreA general election was held in Québec (Canada) on April 7th, 2014. The Parti Libéral du Québec (PLQ), under the lead of Philippe Couillard, won the elections, and now has 70 seats at the National Assembly – enough to form a majority government. On April 23rd, 2014, the new Premier, Philippe Couillard, officially unveiled his cabinet, with no less than
» Read moreMatthew Timms, “The case for and against unconditional basic income in Switzerland.” EuropeanCEO, January 10th, 2014.
» Read moreSUMMARY: This issue of the Citizen’s Income Newsletter includes conference announcements, editorials, news, opinion, and book reviews. Citizen’s Income Trust, Citizen’s Income newsletter 2014, Issue 2.
» Read moreThis paper by Simon Birnbaum (Stockholm University, Sweden) is a review essay of Arguing about Justice. Essays for Philippe Van Parijs, that was published in 2011 (now available for free download in PDF). In his review, Birnbaum stresses the fact that this volume is a “massive firework display of brief essays”, and concentrates on some of the chapters discussing –
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