by Yannick Vanderborght | May 18, 2011 | News
USBIG reports that Martin Hopenhayn, head of the Social Development Division of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said that several Latin American countries are in the position in which they could introduce a universal basic income (UBI) for all citizens. In a recent interview with Dario Montero of Inter Press Service News Agency, Hopenhayn said that UBI would be an effective tool in fighting poverty and inequality. Although he believes that many conditions have to come together to make UBI feasible, and he believes it would take a major reform of the social benefit system to install it, he said that Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Costa Rica are in position to do so and Brazil is not far off. Montero’s interview with Hoopenhayn is online at: https://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53793
by Yannick Vanderborght | May 18, 2011 | News
According to USBIG, the Kuwaiti parliament has voted to distribute an unconditional cash grant of 1,000 dinars ($3,580) and free essential food items to each of Kuwait’s 1.155 million citizens for the next 14 months. The total cost of the package will be over $5 billion. The cash will be paid on February 24. The distribution of food begins February 1 and lasts until March 31, 2012.
This policy decision sounds more generous than it actually is. More than two-thirds of Kuwait’s residents are not citizens and have no path to citizenship. The cash and food will not be distributed to the 2.4 million foreign residents in the country, and the needier residents tend to be among the foreigners working the country.
For an article on the Kuwait grant.
See: https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110126/wl_mideast_afp/kuwaiteconomygrant_20110126110550
by Yannick Vanderborght | May 18, 2011 | News
USBIG reports that Muqtada al-Sadr, the militant Iraqi leader, has endorsed sharing Iraq’s oil revenue among all Iraqis. Some observers speculate that he has been influenced by the idea, discussed widely by Americans early in the occupation, of establishing a program in Iraq based on Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend. An article on Sadr’s demand is online at: www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27257.htm
by Yannick Vanderborght | May 18, 2011 | News
On July 8, 2010, the Greek Parliament approved a basic pension. It is fixed at €360 per month in 2010 prices, paid 12 times a year, will be available with no means test to all those who lived in the country for 35 years between the ages of 15 and 65. It will be pro-rated for those who have lived in the country for less than that time, and available on a means-tested basis for others. The new program, of course, falls short of full universality, but this move could be a step toward a universal basic pension. An article on the creation of a basic pension in Greece will be published in the April 2011 issue of Basic Income Studies. Entitled, “Pathways to a Universal Basic Pension in Greece.” It is written by Manos Matsaganis and Chrysa Leventi, both of the Athens University of Economics and Business.
by Yannick Vanderborght | May 18, 2011 | News
Former French Prime Minister (2005-2007) Dominique de Villepin is well-known for his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq – at the time he was a Minister for Foreign Affairs. Many will remember his speech at the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 14, 2003, in front of US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Quite surprisingly, de Villepin has recently launched a basic income campaign, which is supposed to be a central feature of his electoral platform in prospect of the 2012 Presidential election.
For further details, see: https://www.republiquesolidaire.fr/
