by Karl Widerquist | Aug 3, 2013 | News, Research
Francis Coppola
This article argues in support of the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG), relative to another proposed reform, the Job Guarantee (JG). Responding to two recent articles by L. Randall Wray criticizing basic income as inflationary, Francis Coppola castes doubt that Wray’s claims that BIG and JG would have very different effects on inflation. She concludes, “It seems to me that the fundamental difference between JG proponents and supporters of basic income lies not in their economics but in their view of human nature. JG proponents are essentially managerialist. They think that people have to be told what to do or they won’t do anything useful. Basic income supporters, on the other hand, are liberals: they believe that if people are supported and their basic needs are met, they will find useful and productive things to do. … Personally I would prefer a basic income, and I admit that is because I am shockingly liberal and really don’t like being told what to do.”
Coppola, Francis. “Economic equivalence: job guarantee and basic income,” Coppola Comment, Thursday, 11 July 2013
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 3, 2013 | Research
In this blog post, author and political scientists, Chris Blattman, reports on a study he helped to organize, which shows that giving cash to poor people in a very poor country significantly increases both their employment rate and their employment income. The study was a randomized field experiment conducted in Uganda.
Blattman, Chris, “Dear governments: Want to help the poor and transform your economy? Give people cash,” Chris Blattman: International development, politics, economics, and policy, 23 May 2013
The original study can be found online at the Social Science Research Network’s website.
Chris Blattman
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 2, 2013 | Research
This article response to the allegation that basic income is unrealistic by arguing that the idea of full employment at a living wage is far less realistic.
Livable4All, “Job Fairy or Universal Livable Income: What is More Realistic?” June 7, 2013
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 2, 2013 | Research
Yglesias, Matthew, “Good News About Unconditional Transfers to the Global Poor”
In the latest of several articles on Basic Income for Slate magazine, Matthew Yglesias reports on a pilot project in Uganda. The project found “recipients of one-off lump-sum cash transfers earn substantially higher annual incomes two and four years after the intervention.”
Yglesias, Matthew, “Good News About Unconditional Transfers to the Global Poor,” Slate May 29, 2013
Matthew Yglesias
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 1, 2013 | Research
In this opinion piece, Ed Broadbent, former leader of the New Democratic Party, argues that Canada should take a small step in the direction of a basic income or a negative income tax by increasing the federal Working Income Tax Benefit, which provides a very modest tax credit to Canadians who work but still have very low incomes.
Broadbent, Ed, “Begin by hiking tax credits for working poor,” the Chronicle Herald, June 28, 2013.
by Karl Widerquist | Jul 31, 2013 | Research
This article argues for basic income as a response to technological unemployment, The authors write, “because of increases in technology that replace workers, we need to face a very important reality that is never discussed – there may never be enough jobs.”
Zeese, Kevin and Margaret Flowers, “Time for an Economy Of, By and For the People,” Global Research, June 25, 2013
