A broken system
The author proposes either a universal basic income or a direct cash transfer to households in the bottom 80% of income earners, the latter of which would be similar to and achieve many of the benefits of a universal basic income.
Living Income, “WHY CENTRAL BANKS SHOULD GIVE MONEY DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE”, Living Income Guaranteed, 2014 September 17
Chris Ladd, “How to End the Welfare State” GOPLifer. November 17, 2013.
This article, published in Foreign Affairs, argues that the most effective way for current governments to stimulate the economy is to give money directly to citizens. The article reviews the historical impact of various fiscal policies in many different countries and concludes that an innovative and effective stimulus policy in the event of a recession is a basic income.
Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan, “Print Less but Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly to the People.” Foreign Affairs. September/October, 2014.
Sam Smith, “Why basic income should be a key issue”, Undernews, 2014 September 22
A new book has just been published by Palgrave Macmillan in its series “Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee.” Entitled “Basic Income in Japan. Prospects for a Radical Idea in a Transforming Welfare State“, and co-edited by Yannick Vanderborght & Toru Yamamori, this collective volume provides the international audience with the very first general overview of the scholarly debate on basic income in Japan. The fifteen chapters offer a balanced picture of this debate, using basic income as a test case for analyzing the ongoing transformations of the Japanese welfare state. Contributors address many of the key issues faced by other developed nations today, such as growing economic insecurity, income and gender inequalities, poverty, ageing, migration, and the future of universal versus selective programs. Even if some remain skeptical about the immediate prospects for this radical idea, all contributors believe in its relevance for the study of contemporary Japan. The volume includes a foreword by Ronald Dore, one of the most prominent experts of Japan’s economy, and a long-standing basic income advocate.
For further information, and the table of contents, see here
A conference on the book will take place at Maison franco-japonaise in Tokyo (in French and Japanese) on October 31, 2014. More details on the conference here.
Full references: VANDERBORGHT, Yannick & YAMAMORI, Toru (eds.) (2014), Basic Income in Japan. Prospects for a Radical Idea in a Transforming Welfare State, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Matt Pritchard, “Against the Basic Income Guarantee.” Vulgar Libertarians. February 13, 2014.
