by Josh Martin | Aug 7, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
Walker’s post is in response to the Cato Unbound debate on the basic income which was kicked off by Zwolinski’s lead essay on the libertarian argument for the basic income. Walker adds to the discussion with two well-informed points. First, while Zwolinski hopes for a basic income that can replace the welfare state, Walker finds that improbable and instead argues for reform to cashify multiple programs into one cash benefit. Instead of housing, food, and health assistance, Walker suggests combining them into one assistance cash benefit. Second, Walker calls on basic income debates to remember to include discussions on natural resource based dividends like the Alaska Permanent Fund. Walker believes these programs to be an excellent real-world example of a basic income, even though it is rarely seen as a welfare program.
Jesse Walker, “Making the Welfare State Less Intrusive”, Reason, 5 August 2014.
Walker responds to Cato Unbound's debate on the basic income
by Josh Martin | Aug 7, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this post Brown highlights the month-long debate that has just begun at Cato Unbound titled “The Basic Income and the Welfare State”. Brown then discusses the first article, which was written by Matt Zwolinski and looks forward to the upcoming articles from other academics at Cato Unbound.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown, “Libertarians Debate Basic Income Guarantee”, Reason, 4 August 2014.
by Josh Martin | Aug 6, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
Zwolinski’s excellent article acts as the lead essay for a special month-long debate hosted by Cato Unbound on “The Basic Income and the Welfare State”. Written from the pragmatic libertarian perspective, Zwolinski outlines the current libertarian objections to the welfare state—largely its complexity and extensive bureaucracy—and argues that a basic income guarantee would be much more desirable for libertarians than the status quo. To solidify his argument he highlights four main benefits of a basic income guarantee: it would have less bureaucracy, be cheaper to implement, see less rent-seeking behavior, and be less paternalistic in nature than the current system. Zwolinski ends his essay by admitting that a perfect libertarian utopia will never happen, but a basic income guarantee could help nudge society in its direction.
Matt Zwolinski, “The Pragmatic Libertarian Case for a Basic Income Guarantee”, Cato Unbound, 4 August 2014.
Cato Unbound is hosting a month-long discussion on "The Basic Income and the Welfare State"
by Jenna van Draanen | Aug 5, 2014 | Research
[Jenna van Draanen]
Thomas Wells, “The Robot Economy and the Crisis of Capitalism: Why We Need Universal Basic Income.” Religion & Ethics, ABC, July 17, 2014.
-ABC
by Josh Martin | Aug 4, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this post, Rader attempts to address the differences between communism and a basic income, seeing the latter as another pathway to fulfilling Marx’s ideas. Rader writes, “Basic income is not communism but rather provides a viable path to realize the basic goals of communism, a form of common ownership, a classless society and an end to the dominance relationships and alienation produced by capitalism.”
Gaura Rader, “Is Basic Income Communism?”, The Socratic Diablogs, 14 July 2014.
Gaura Rader (Source: The Socratic Diablogs)
by Toby | Aug 2, 2014 | Research
John Danaher -IEET
SUMMARY: Danaher explores Andrew Levine’s argument regarding the right not to work, addressing potential objections as well as the impact of automation and other technological advancements. Whether there exists a right not to work is an important issue in the basic income debate
John Danaher, “Should we have a right not to work?“, Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies, 20 July 2014
