Uncut sheet of 200-kroner notes -Photo: Katrine Lunke/Norges Bank
This article argues that Norway should introduce a basic income, and considers the Alaska model as a financing strategy.
Brady, Michael, “Basic income in Norway?” The Foreigner: Norwegian News In English, Sunday, 26th May, 2013
A Swiss petition drive has collected more than the 100,000 signatures necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. If the government certifies 100,000 of the signatures as valid, a referendum will be held within two years. The proposal does not specify the amount of the basic income, but it would enshrine the principle in Switzerland’s constitution. The proposal is controversial. Even some unions and left organizations have dismissed basic income as a “bonus for laziness.” This proposal is one of several petition drives for basic income in Europe this year, some have been waged nationally and some at level of the European Union as a whole.
For more information see:
Jourdan, Stanislas, “Will the basic income revolution come from Switzerland?” Boiling Frogs, Alternatives, June 3, 2013
Vogele, Wolfgang G., “Swiss parliament may soon debate unconditional basic income,” NNA: News with a difference, 30 Apr 2013
Geiser, Urs “Basic income for all. Old utopian revived on Swiss streets,” swissinfo.ch, June 13, 2013
The Swiss initiative in print
This story begins, “A new pilot study at Panthbadodiya could significantly change living conditions for the poor, and India’s approach to fighting poverty. The village is taking part in the Madhya Pradesh Unconditional Cash Transfer Initiative, a project run by the Self Employed Women’s Association (Sewa; a trade union that has defended the rights of women with low incomes in India for 40 years), with subsidies from Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund) India. The research director, Sarath Dewala, explained: ‘The experiment involves giving individuals a small sum of money, at regular intervals, as a supplement to all other forms of income, and observing what happens to their families if this sum is given unconditionally.’ …”
Fernandez, Benjamin “Rupees in your pocket,” the Morung Express, 2013
The president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, has announced the creation of a “Guaranteed Minimum Income” for all citizens. The president said, “Beneficiaries will be all of our fellow citizens who have an income below that which can assure them a dignified living, irrespective of age, class or professional situation.” According to Cyprus Mail, the policy will begin in June 2014. The exact level of the grant will be determined between now and then, but every citizen would be guaranteed “the minimum needs for a dignified living in a European Country.”
If the program goes into affect as described, it will be the world’s first full “Basic Income Guarantee” (BIG) as defined by the U.S. Basic income Guarantee Network: “government ensured guarantee that no one’s income will fall below the level necessary to meet their most basic needs for any reason.” However, the details of the program available so far indicate that it will be the negative income tax version (NIT) and not the basic income (BI) version of BIG. The difference is that NIT gets everyone to the minimum by paying only those whose incomes are below some minimum level, while BI gets everyone to the minimum, pay paying all citizens regardless of means. What will actually happen remains to be seen.
For more information, see “President announces ‘Guaranteed Minimum Income’ program,” Cypress Mail, July 26, 2013
President Nicos Anastasiades - Cypress Mail
Malcolm Torry, author of Money for Everyone, writes in this article, “A Citizen’s Income is an unconditional, nonwithdrawable income for every individual as a right of citizenship. …”
Torry, Malcolm, “Why it’s the right time for a Citizen’s Income,” Policy Press Blog, June 14, 2013
Malcolm Torry
