BIEN | News
News on the global Basic Income debate
International: Basic Income Earth Conference 2019 announcement (update)
The structure of the Conference has been updated. BIEN Civic Forum will be held on the 22nd of August. On this day, having been called “India Day”, two major plenary discussions will be held: one that focuses on the Indian state of Telangana and its policy initiatives...
United States: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: uncompromising, intelligent and courageously, she is driving progressive values in the US like we haven’t seen in a long time
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cartoon. Picture credit to: Folding Hamster. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) “keeps kicking ass”, as put by Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Current Affairs magazine. Unlike other young left-wing politicians in the past, who end up...
Erik Olin Wright, influential sociologist and long-term Basic Income advocate, announces he has only weeks to live (Update: Wright passed away on January 23)
Erik Olin Wright, a long-term advocate of Universal Basic Income and one of the most influential sociologists today, recently announced that his doctors have advised him that he has only a few weeks left to live. (Update: he passed away on January 23.) He is best...
India: Telangana, unconditional cash transfer to farmers and more
Road in rural India. Picture credit to: India TV. Farmers in India are under considerable stress. Uncertainty regarding weather, yield, prices and revenue, create the perfect conditions for distress and fragility over the exposure to shark lenders. That also means...
UK: The current welfare state is reaching its limits, as evidence on inequality and poverty in the UK is surfaced
Philip Alston. Picture credit to: BBC News Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, was in the UK last November 2018, presenting his findings on this press conference. It seems that the UK, the 5th world economy in terms of GDP, drags...
Australia: Attempt to Form the Citizen’s Dividend Party
Picture Credit: Timothy Swinson Paul Ross is trying to found the Citizen’s Dividend Party (CDP) in Australia, and to take part in the election of May 2019. The foundational pledge, as found on the website, is: “To render...
International: Free Lunch Society film finished and soon to be released
Milton Friedman once gave a lecture in which he demonstrated, in a very particular logic, that the so-called “free lunch” was a myth. The origin of the term is unknown, but in early twentieth century it was already in use. Since then it has been so frequently employed...
India: Sikkim state is on the verge of becoming the first place on Earth implementing a basic income
Flowers, on the way to the mountain. Picture credit to: Rookie's Journal Sikkim, the second smallest state in India, has grown a reputation, over the years, for environmental consciousness, ethnical diversity and tourism. It is also the home of one of the most...
India: 2019 General Elections and basic income
Indian woman worker with spectacles. Picture credit to: Sarah Day New ideas seem to be running dry in the Indian political context. Within Congress, Government (BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party) and opposition parties (ex.: AAP - Aam Aadmi Party). Tweaking with the...
France: The “yellow vests” movement spurs renewed discussion over the economy, society and basic income
A new series of demonstrations have erupted in France: the “gilet jaunes [yellow vests]”. This movement started in 2018, from an online petition which had grown 300 000 signatures large by October. From there, massive street demonstrations have followed, with...
