by Karl Widerquist | Aug 22, 2013 | Research
ABSRACT: Addressing the issue of poverty in Canada is an important challenge to policymakers. Establishing an income floor below which no citizen falls is a critical public policy goal for the Canadian welfare state. In responding to this policy issue, recent debate has revolved around a guaranteed annual income (GAI), defined as a basic income paid by the government to all citizens on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement. The purpose of this paper is to analyze past and present GAI programs to inform the public policy debate on the implementation of a GAI in Canada. Among the factors under consideration are the program’s efficiency in targeting payments, as well as its effect on family structure and labour force participation. On an implementation level, the paper also explores the potential for introducing a GAI through a negative income tax. It is also important to note, however, that relatively few GAI programs exist currently, and those that do, often are not sufficient alone in providing income maintenance to citizens.
Martin, Melissa, “International Perspectives on Guaranteed Annual Income Programs,” Queen’s Policy Review, Volume 2, No. 1 (Winter 2011), pp. 49-61
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 21, 2013 | Research
Libertarian populism in Reason Magazine
Libertarianism, in the United States, is a political ideology dedicated to the smallest possible government. Yet, there is a long history of at least some libertarians favoring basic income. In two articles in the libertarian magazine, Reason, Jesse Walker discusses basic income as a part of the libertarian agenda and the Alaska Dividend as an example of a working basic income. According to Walker, “The American safety net is a confusing maze of programs, many of which double as a way for paternalists to stick their snouts into poor people’s lives. It would be both simpler and less intrusive to replace the lot of them with a single negative income tax or basic income grant.”
Jesse Walker, “One State Already Has a Basic Income Plan,” Reason: Free Minds and Free Markets, Aug. 2, 2013 Jesse Walker, “How Far Will Libertarian Populists Go?” Reason: Free Minds and Free Markets, Aug. 1, 2013
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 18, 2013 | Research
A commentator for the Financial Times, Britain’s leading business newspaper, has tentatively endorsed BIG. Tim Harford writes, “Helping the poor in the most obvious way of all is starting to look attractive.”
Harford, Tim, ” The Undercover Economist: How to give money away,” the Financial Times, July 12, 2013.
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 17, 2013 | Research
In a post at the blog Simulacrum, “Liu” discusses three trends that will create a demand for an unconditional basic income: The fall of the middle class, the long term decline in demand for human labor, and the detachment of cultural production from the market. According to Timothy Roscoe Carter, “This is an excellent post, and my only complaint is that Liu does not explicitly note that trend #2, the decline in demand for human labor, is the primary cause of the other two. The section on the detachment of cultural production from the market is probably the best due to originality. This trend is important, and this is the first time I have seen a discussion of it that links it to a demand for basic income. My favorite quote from this post: ‘Don’t dismiss this as socialism, it involves a complete rejection of the Stakhanovite work ethic and a full-throttle embrace of consumer culture.’”
Simulacrum: Media, technology, and anthropology. “Three trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic Income,” posted 2013-07-10, in a Blog by Lui.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 16, 2013 | Research
In this blog, Malcolm Torry discusses a new book, Money for Everyone: Why we need a Citizen’s Income, which argues for a Universal Basic Income, or as it is termed here, a Citizen’s Income. He discusses the different approaches the book uses in arguing for the policy, concluding that every mainstream political ideology generates arguments for a Citizen’s Income.
Malcolm Torry
Malcolm Torry is honorary Director of the Citizen’s Income Trust, BIEN’s affiliate in the United Kingdom. He has first degrees in mathematics, theology, philosophy, and economics and management, and higher degrees in social policy and in theology. From May 2011 to April 2012 he was an honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics. He is Vicar of Holy Trinity, Greenwich Peninsula.
Torry, Malcolm “There are many convincing arguments in favour of a Citizen’s Income,” British Politics and Policy at LSE, 2013
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 15, 2013 | Research
This paper compares BI models and discussion in Finland, Germany and Spain.
Perkio, Johanna, “Basic Income Proposals in Finland, Germany and Spain,” Discussion Paper No. 2, Transform! European network for alternative thinking and political dialogue, 2013, online at: https://transform-network.net/programmes/discussion-papers/news/detail/Programm/basic-income-proposals-in-finland-germany-and-spain.html
It’s also online as a PDF at: https://transform-network.net/uploads/tx_news/Paper_no2_perkioe_EN.pdf
The appendix is online at: https://transform-network.net/uploads/tx_news/Basic_Income_in_Europe.Tabellen.corr_mitangenommenenAenderungen.pdf
