BIEN | Opinion
Opinion Posts
Here you will find articles expressing opinions about current issues in the Basic Income debate. Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of BIEN.
The Future of Jobs: Working on Being Human
It is becoming normal to talk about robots replacing human labor, but we still have not yet acknowledged the magnitude of this change.
THE ECONOMIC LESSON OF 1938 (from 2009)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in August 2009. If I use the phrase “lesson of 1938,” most people will probably think about Britain’s unsuccessful attempt to avoid war with Nazi Germany by giving away a piece of Czechoslovakia. There are...
KEEPING THE GLOBAL RECESSION IN PERSPECTIVE (from 2009)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in May 2009. The global recession has been spreading and deepening for nearly a year. It could become the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it has captured nearly all of the...
HEALING BUT NOT A CURE (from 2009)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in February 2009. Like millions of people around the world, I watched Obama’s inaugural last month and saw the panning shots of huge crowds against the backdrop of the Washington Monument and the...
OPINION: Isn’t true love unconditional? : The International Women’s Day, the UK government’s Valentine message, and the 50th anniversary of working class women demanding UBI.
The International Women's Day is approaching. This is a poster for the International Women's Day march 45 years ago. (Photo above) Two working-class women, one carries a buggy, and the other carries a placard containing written slogans reflecting three of the original...
Rural basic income ‘maximizes impact’ for society
While a basic income limited to rural inhabitants would not be universally distributed, it would be universally available. Anyone could move to the countryside and automatically receive it.
THE ALASKA DIVIDEND AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (from 2008)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in November 2008. Most people will be surprised to learn that the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee and the Democratic Presidential nominee have both endorsed the basic income guarantee (BIG). In one...
FOUR OBITUARIES: MILTON FRIEDMAN, ANTONIO MARIA DA SILVEIRA, RICHARD CLEMENTS, AND LEONARD GREENE (from 2006)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in December 2006. Four basic income advocates died in November 2006. Noble-Laureate Milton Friedman (Nov. 16), Brazilian economist Antonio Maria da Silveira (Nov.21), former director of the Citizens...
Obamacare’s model can solve basic income’s cost issue
One area basic income advocates need to emphasize more is this clawback of basic income.
Korea: Conference held to design basic income experiment
South Korea’s government included an expenditure to design potential models for a basic income experiment into the 2018 budget.
BIG PILOT PROJECT IN NAMIBIA HAS POSITIVE IMPACT (from 2008)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in October 2008. In January 2008, a Basic Income Grant (BIG) pilot project began in the Otjivero-Omitara area in Namibia. All residents below the age of 60 years receive a Basic Income Grant of 100...
WHAT DOES THE STONE AGE HAVE TO DO WITH US? (from 2008)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in June 2008. What does the Stone Age have to do with modern justice? According to property rights advocates: everything; their arguments rely on two factual claims that can be enlightened by a look at...
