Ed Dolan, "A Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives"

Edwin G. Dolan is an economist and educator with a Ph.D. from Yale University.

[Craig Axford]

In this two part series Ed Dolan takes a look at the impact a basic income guarantee would likely have upon the incentive to work.  In part 1 Dolan considers the theory behind an income guarantee and its impact on work.  In his second post he considers some of the available evidence.

Ed Dolan, “A Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part 1: Theory”, Economonitor, August 18, 2014
Ed Dolan, “A Universal Basic Income and Work Incentives. Part2: Evidence”, Economonitor, August 25, 2014

David Evans, “Do the Poor Waste Transfers on Booze and Cigarettes? No”

[Josh Martin]

In this blog Evans tackles the age-old assumption that giving cash to the poor would result in an uptick in alcohol and tobacco consumption.  Evans cites 19 studies and comes to the conclusion that cash transfer programs (both conditional and unconditional) do not lead to significant increases in alcohol and tobacco consumption.

David Evans, “Do the Poor Waste Transfers on Booze and Cigarettes? No”, The World Bank, 27 May 2014.

Only 2% of studies found a positive and significant relationship with alcohol and tobacco expenditures (Source: The World Bank)

Only 2% of studies found a positive and significant relationship with alcohol and tobacco expenditures (Source: The World Bank)

Larry Elliot, “Would a citizen’s income be better than our benefits system?”

[Josh Martin]

In this opinion piece Elliot discusses the complexity of the United Kingdom’s benefits system as well as the confusing state of the economy and labor market.  Elliot claims that one possible way to cut through the complexity and confusion is to reform the benefits system into a basic income.

Larry Elliot, “Would a citizen’s income be better than our benefits system?”, The Guardian, 10 August 2014.

Larry Elliott (Source: The Guardian)

Larry Elliott (Source: The Guardian)

Gaura Rader, “Basic Income vs. Negative Income Tax: Why supporters of basic income should be in favor of a negative income tax”

[Josh Martin]

In Rader’s latest post on the basic income, he discuesses the two policies broadly referred to as basic income guarantees: the universal basic income (UBI) and the negative income tax (NIT).  Rader admits to preferring a UBI, but in this post calls on UBI supporters to also support an NIT because of its political viability among other reasons.  Rader then raises the main arguments and drawbacks of both policies.

Gaura Rader, “Basic Income vs. Negative Income Tax: Why supporters of basic income should be in favor of a negative income tax”, Socratic Diablogs, 6 August 2014.

Gaura Rader (Source: The Socratic Diablogs)

Gaura Rader (Source: The Socratic Diablogs)