by Kate McFarland | Mar 28, 2016 | Research
University of Tampere
Last November, Finland’s plans to test a basic income caught the attention of international media. Although the experiments are still some months away (scheduled to begin in 2017), the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (KELA) has continued to make strides in investigating the possibilities for a basic income.
KELA has recently published a working paper that reviews the current state of the debate on basic income and assesses the pros and cons of various specific proposals.
Johanna Perkiö, a doctoral candidate at the University of Tampere, has written a useful summary of the KELA paper — including a description of the differences between the models of a basic income proposed by the Green Party, the Left Alliance, the think tank Libera, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Youth Organization.
Perkiö also discusses the challenge of removing disincentives to work during the study, given that traditional benefits will remain in place during the trials. She broaches solutions such as a negative income tax system and reduction of benefits on a sliding scale.
To learn more about the variety of basic income models under consideration:
Johanna Perkiö, “Universal basic income: A search for alternative models,” Tutkimusblogi, January 25th, 2016.
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by Kate McFarland | Mar 23, 2016 | Research
Source: Springer
Economist Maximilian Sommer (Katholische Universität Eichstätt – Ingolstadt) has published a book-length investigation into a financially feasible basic income scheme for Germany, encompassing arguments for an unconditional basic income, implementation details, and anticipated consequences of the policy.
The model that Sommer proposes is based on a negative income tax.
From the publisher’s description:
“This book analyzes the consequences that would arise if Germany’s means-tested unemployment benefits were replaced with an unconditional basic income. The basic income scheme introduced is based on a negative income tax and calibrated to be both financially feasible and compatible with current constitutional legislation. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) the author examines the impact of the reform on the household labor supply as well as on both poverty and inequality measures. It is shown that by applying reasonable values for both the basic income and the implied marginal tax rate imposed on earned incomes, efficiency gains can be reconciled with generally accepted value statements. Furthermore, as the proposal includes a universal basic income for families, child poverty could be reduced considerably. The estimates are based on the discrete choice approach to labor supply.”
Free previews of the books are available at the publisher’s website.
Reference:
Maximilian Sommer, “A Feasible Basic Income Scheme for Germany: Effects on Labor Supply, Poverty, and Income Inequality“, Springer, 2016
by Josh Martin | Mar 16, 2016 | Research
Abstract:
A basic income is typically defined as an individual’s entitlement to receive a regular payment as a right, independent of other sources of income, employment or willingness to work, or living situation. In this article, we examine what it means for the state to institute a right to basic income. The normative literature on basic income has developed numerous arguments in support of basic income as an inextricable component of a just social order, but there exists little analysis about basic income within a jurisprudential or philosophical rights perspective. In our view, strong reasons of either a principled or a pragmatic nature in support of instituting a basic income scheme nevertheless often fall short of ascribing to basic income a distinctive Hohfeldian rights status. This article aims to partially redress this gap by examining two sets of questions. First, what are the implications – ethical and practical – of adopting basic income as a legal right as opposed to a mere policy? Second, we also enquire whether there should be such a right: what, if anything, is the ethical foundation that warrants granting basic income a distinctive legal rights status? This article suggests that any such foundation must be grounded in comparative evaluation and discusses several comparative strategies available to basic income advocates. The aim of this article is not to offer a definite argument in favor of a legal right to basic income, but to chart several lines of argument that a rights perspective might add to the contemporary discussion.
Jurgen De Wispelaere and Leticia Morales, “Is there (or should there be) a right to basic income?”, Philosophy and Social Criticism, 13 January 2016.
by BIEN | Mar 13, 2016 | Research
In this paper Jude Thomas, a US musician, discusses how within the last two decades « … growth and improvement of both recording technology and Internet access have brought about fundamental changes in how people create and consume arts ». The story of labor in the arts, the Digital Revolution, and Modern Patronage tell of the need for UBI in order to combat the Crisis of Independent Artists and make sure that those going into the arts are protected from extreme poverty. As the author writes, « what UBI changes is who makes decisions about which works of art get to exist, and which artists are worthy of creating art ».
For the full text see :
https://www.usbig.net/papers/Thomas%20-%20Vanishing%20Scarcity%20copy.pdf
For a full video presentation over that theme by Jude Thomas, see:
https://composerjude.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/vanishing-scarcity-at-nabig-2015/
by Josh Martin | Mar 12, 2016 | Research
Abstract:
Following the success of a recent Swiss Citizens’ Initiative to grant each citizen an unconditional income guarantee and the Finnish Government’s plans to conduct the first national pilot project, the idea of a basic income as a citizens’ right has gained much prominence in the policy debate. This article reviews a number of policy developments on the ground through the lens of the policy transfer literature. In the absence of a fully developed basic income in place, proponents must rely on partially implemented schemes or proposals that differ in crucial respects from the basic income ideal. This paper outlines three sets of empirical cases and analyses what (if any) lessons we can draw from them regarding the future of basic income schemes.
Jurgen De Wispelaere, “Basic Income in Our Time: Improving Political Prospects Through Policy Learning”, Journal of Social Policy, Cambridge University Press 2016.
by Andre Coelho | Dec 27, 2015 | Research
Credit to: Rubén Cantos Castelló
According to José Pérez, the Spanish political arena has just lost an important opportunity to ramp up the basic income concept deeply into local and national politics. What has been an idea of continuous growth since 2011 (mainly through social movements like 15M), has stalled for the moment as political parties prefer defending conditional grants instead. This is also fomented by traditional leftists, such as unions, who continue to look at full employment as the golden solution to social problems. Pérez considers the basic income idea a hard one to defend in today’s political arena, but a necessary one if the 1978 Constitutional Text is ever to be taken literally.
José Luis Rey Pérez, “La renta básica ante las elecciones del 20D, ¿una oportunidad perdida?” [“The basic income before the December 20 elections: a missed opportunity“], Sin Permiso magazine, October 30, 2015
