by Josh Martin | Aug 20, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
Fitsnews decided to write on the basic income as a response to the debate started by Zwolinski at Cato Unbound on the basic income. Fitsnews provides a basic introduction to the negative income tax and provides some humor by noticing that the basic income guarantee has the same abbreviation as the infamous Notorious B.I.G.
Fitsnews, “The Notorious (Basic Income Guarantee)”, Fitsnews, 4 August 2014.
The Notorious (Basic Income Guarantee) (Source: Fitsnews)
by Josh Martin | Aug 19, 2014 | Research
Abstract:
“Basic income is a radical idea which has gained more attention in many countries in recent years, as traditional welfare states are having trouble solving the problems they were created to solve. Basic income promises to solve many of these problems in an effective and simple way. The purpose of this thesis is to study basic income in a way which can supplement the existing literature, and make it relevant in a Norwegian perspective. Hopefully this can contribute towards placing basic income on the political agenda and in the public debate. A large amount of literature is written on basic income, but by comparing the arguments used to promote a basic income with empirical data from previously implemented social policy in Norway, I hope to contribute towards an area which is not well covered.
To do this I identify the arguments used to promote a basic income, and compare them to the arguments used to promote other universal social policy in Norway at the time they were introduced. The empirical cases of the universal child benefit and the universal old age pension in Norway has been chosen, because they resemble a basic income in many ways. The study is of a qualitative nature, and the method of document analysis is used to conduct the study. The data material for basic income is mainly scholarly literature. The data materials used for the analysis of the child benefit scheme and the old age pension are government documents, mainly preparatory work for new laws, legal propositions put forward in parliament, white papers, and transcripts of debates in parliament.
This study finds that there are many similarities between the three social policies studied in this thesis. Most clearly the arguments are similar in two areas: arguments related to economic and administrative considerations, and arguments related to poverty and social justice. The main differences are related to arguments related to freedom and justice, and arguments related to feminist, green and post-productive considerations.”
Christian Siegwart Petersen, “Money for nothing? Arguments for basic income, universal pensions and universal child benefits in Norway”, University of Bergen, 2 June 2014.
by Jenna van Draanen | Aug 18, 2014 | Research
John Danaher -IEET
This piece discusses feminist perspectives both for and against basic income as well as examines the possible effects of basic income for women. The author brings up potential effects such as: changing women’s labor market participation, the amount of money women (and mothers) receive, flexibility in work choice, re-valuation of unpaid work, positive psychological effects, bargaining power, loss of non-pecuniary advantages of paid labor, depreciation of women’s human capital, and increased systematic discrimination against women. The article then describes four feminist arguments in favor of BI and two feminist arguments against BI and concludes that there is no single feminist position on this debate.
John Danaher, “Feminism and the Basic Income (Part One)”. Philosophical Disquisitions, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, July 17, 2014.
by Josh Martin | Aug 17, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this post Rader discusses the effects a basic income would have on society’s relationship with the market. While people are oppressed by the market more today than at any other point during history, Rader believes a basic income would allow people to choose when to participate in the market, instead of being forced into the market like they are now.
Gaura Rader, “Basic Income and The Role of the Market in Society”, The Socratic Diablogs, 28 July 2014.
Gaura Rader (Source: The Socratic Diablogs)
by Josh Martin | Aug 16, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this blog post, Brown goes over Paul Ryan’s plan for poverty and, after pointing out a few flaws in his plan, brainstorms possible solutions for poverty today. This leads Brown to a discussion on a basic income in which he cites two recent articles on the subject written by Gobry and Yglesias.
N. Christian Brown, “Morning Feature – Paul Ryan’s Poverty Bait-and-Switch, Part III: Asking the Right Questions (Non-Cynical Saturday)”, Blogistan Polytechnic Institute, 2 August 2014.
by Josh Martin | Aug 16, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
Gobry, a self-identified right-winger, used to support a basic income like many other conservatives have in the past; now, he doesn’t. Gobry understands the allure of the basic income, but in this critique of the basic income, Gobry uses an analysis from Jim Manzi of a set of randomized field trials from the 60’s to the 90’s in the USA and Canada to “prove” that the basic income fails. Science is on his side, he claims. To him, the only welfare policies that successfully place people into work are the policies with work requirements.
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, “Progressives’ hot new poverty-fighting idea has just one basic problem: Science”, The Week, 21 July 2014.
People need to work, not just for income, but emotional health. (Source: The Week)
