by Karl Widerquist | Sep 1, 2013 | Research
[Robin Ketelaars – Vereniging Basisinkomen]
In a thesis of the study in Dutch Law at the Open University of the Netherlands 2012, (now Mr.) Baukje Hilarides investigated the possibilities and bottlenecks in the implementation of the Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) (OBi in Dutch) in Netherlands. Is the Unconditional Basic Income achievable in the Netherlands? Her answer is: “Yes, because the UBI is line with the Constitution and does not appear to be inconsistent with Article 1 ECtHR FP[1]. The UBI is also affordable and can positively influence society and the economy”. It will find the author’s current commitment to full employment obsolete, because the automation unemployment will increase rather than decrease. The conclusion at the end of the thesis is that the introduction of the UBI in the Netherlands is feasible. However, extensive research is needed before one can implement the UBI
Baukje Hilarides, “Is het onvoorwaardelijk basisinkomen haalbaar in Nederland?” Open University, Leeuwarden 2012: https://dspace.ou.nl/bitstream/1820/4485/1/hilarides.pdf
[1] https://basisinkomen.nl/wp/basisinkomen-positief-getoetst-aan-de-grondwet-en-artikel-1-ep-evrm/
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 30, 2013 | Research
[Jason Burke Murphy – USBIG]
David Harvey, a Marxist professor of Geography at City University of New York, gives a list of important “post-capitalist” measures. A Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) will be needed if money is reformed to prevent the centralization of power. He argues that money should lose value if held over time “like air miles.” BIG prevents this loss of value from rendering anyone vulnerable.
David Harvey, “The Importance of Post-Capitalist Imagination“, Red Pepper, 2013.
David Harvey -from Red Pepper
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 28, 2013 | Research
Jason Burke Murphy – USBIG – August 2013
In The European, Basic Income Earth Network co-founder Guy Standing argues that globalization and technological developments pose an opportunity if the precariat, and those who may join it, work together for economic security, including a BIG. He also seeks to counter frequent objections to BIG.
At the end of the article, there are links to 3 other economists, who were also part of a series on the “Changing Nature of Work.” One of them, by Bo Cutter, mentions BIG dismissively, argues that government should promote jobs, then asserts that it won’t do so anytime soon.
Guy Standing, “Pleasure Before Business,” The European; July 28th, 2013.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 27, 2013 | Research
Aynur Bashirova – BI News – 2013.
Alexander Baron - the Digital Journal
Alexander Baron, in an article published in the Digital Journal, argues that today’s governments’ wage policies are not functional, will not get countries out of the economic crisis, and do not benefit people. People working in unskilled jobs, such as at McDonalds’, are paid so little that they cannot become a breadwinner. If Basic Income (BI) is not introduced in Europe, the poor will become even more desperate and highly paid professionals will stay crippled because of high taxes. On top of that, those who cannot find well paid jobs enter into crime. Introduction of BI will help with the economic crisis, people’s salaries, and lowering the crime rates.
Baron, Alexander. (7 August 2013). “Op-Ed: Basic Income for Europe in 2014?” Digital Journal. https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354625.
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 26, 2013 | Research
Discussion of BIG has gained strength in the United States recent with editorials in Slate, Bloomberg Businessweek, and it even got a mention from Paul Krugman. Although not by name, the discussion of BIG has now reached the New York Times Magazine. A column by Jacob Goldstein reports very positively on GiveDirectly and the Kenyan study on cash dividends, which essentially follows a BIG model.
See past BI News reports on these issues:
Karl Widerquist, “OPINION: Important study finds that giving money without conditions to the poor increases both employment and wages”
USBIG, “Google Gives $2.5 Million to a Direct Cash Transfer Charity”
BIEN, “New non-profit uses unconditional cash transfers”
If you would like to support GiveDirectly, go to: https://www.givedirectly.org/.
Jacob Goldstein, “Is It Nuts to Give to the Poor Without Strings Attached?” the New York Times, August 13, 2013
Illustration by Andrea Wan, the New York Times Magazine
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 25, 2013 | Research
This blog uses Harper Lee’s experience writing To Kill a Mockingbird as an example to support the basic income guarantee. Alex Mayyasi writes, “In the 1950s, Nelle Harper Lee was a single woman living in New York City. … [S]he worked as an airline clerk and wrote in her free time. She had written several long stories, but achieved no success of note. One Christmas in the late fifties, a generous friend gave her a year’s wages as a gift with the note, ‘You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.’ A year later, Lee had produced a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Published two years later, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, sold 30 million copies, and won such polls as ‘Best novel of the century.’”
Harper Lee's to Kill a Mocking Bird from Priceonomics.com
Mayyasi compares Lee’s gift to a one-year basic income guarantee, reviews some of the history of the idea, and concludes, “The fear is that a basic income could disrupt the workings of the invisible hand, but especially in a world of plenty, it seems just as feasible to argue that it could remove the material barriers keeping people from achieving a higher potential. It’s worth asking, what would happen if we offered everyone the same gift that resulted in Nelle Harper Lee writing one of the greatest books ever written?”
Mayyasi, Alex, “The Basic Income Guarantee,” Priceonomics: the Price Guide for Everything, Aug 15, 2013
