BIG case studies from rural India demonstrate it works.
[Craig Axford]
A basic income guarantee has had transformative effects on the lives of many in rural India, providing evidence of just how powerful an anti-poverty tool BIG can be.
Stuart Weir, “Basic Income: transforming lives in rural India”, Open India: India and Beyond, June 20, 2014
Alejandro Higuera Osuna , the mayor of Mazatlán, Mexico, and his wife, the city's family assistance director Juana Guillermina Higuera Avila, provide food boxes to a woman.
[Craig Axford]
A study looking into Mexico’s Programa de Apoyo Alimentario food aid program finds that giving those in need food is more costly and no more effective than simply giving people direct financial aid and allowing them to buy food on their own. In addition to using the money to buy food as intended, direct assistance reduces the cost of the program by nearly 20% compared to the traditional food distribution system. This finding adds to the growing body of research showing people spend unconditional assistance responsibly, contrary to what many BIG opponents claim.
Dylan Matthews, “Mexico tried giving poor people cash instead of food. It worked.”, Vox, June 26, 2014
Maybe Detroit could use a little BIG (Image: The Huffington Post)
[Craig Axford]
The author of this blog suggests the City of Detroit should select around 1,000 individuals living within the same area, offer them $400 a month without any strings attached, improve basic services such as internet access, and then see what happens to their community.
Albert Wenger, “A Basic Income Experiment I would Like To See (Detroit)”, Continuations, June 24, 2014
"Increasingly calls for drastic measures like a guaranteed income, wealth redistribution and other social engineering measures are being called for."
[Craig Axford]
According to this blog post more and more people are arguing that what really matters is a capacity for social innovation. Due to a combination of automation and wealth concentration, increasing calls for new approaches such as a basic income guarantee are becoming commonplace.
33rd Square, “Is This The End of Careers As We Know Them?”, June 25, 2014
Gaura Rader
[Craig Axford]
Gaura Rader, “The Democracy Argument for Basic Income”, The Socratic Diablogs, June 25, 2014.
Gaura Rader, “Democracy and Basic Income Part II”, The Socratic Diablogs, June 26, 2014
Though technology favors extreme jobs, BIG offers a liberating safety net for everyone.
[Craig Axford]
Technology is increasingly replacing more jobs than it is creating. This trend favors extreme jobs that a few superstars get paid extremely well to do, leaving everyone else either unemployed or underemployed. Jon Evans concludes that a basic income guarantee is the only kind of strong social safety net that can catch everyone and enable people to do the kind of fulfilling things they want to at the same time.
Jon Evans, “Welcome to Extremistan! Please Check Your Career At The Door”, Tech Crunch, June 21, 2014
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)