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.
Basic Income Korea Network holds sixth General Assembly
The 6th General Assembly (GA) of Basic Income Korea Network was held in Seoul. The GA is held every January, in which we examine the activities of last year and decide what activities we should carry out in the following year.
UBI’s Impact on Work Culture: Not a Question for the Experimenters
My interest in basic income stemmed from the conjecture that such a policy could help to ignite a progression away from the culture of total work. However, there are many open empirical questions regarding the exact way in which a basic income would (or would not)...
Alternatives to Citizen’s Basic Income
Negative Income Tax, Tax Credits, and Citizen’s Basic Income, all generate the same net income. All three schemes would reduce marginal deduction rates, incentivize employment, and enable families to more easily to earn their way out of poverty.
A BASIC INCOME SUPPORTER’S VIEW OF THE SALES TAX MOVEMENT (from 2008)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in February 2008. The unexpected success of Mike Huckabee in the Republican primaries has given a substantial boost to the small movement to replace all federal taxes with a national sales tax with an...
‘Me too’ and the basic income guarantee
If we want to empower women in their dealings with abusive employers, a way to do so is to provide them with a source of income they don’t have to sell their labor to receive.
ALASKA’S BIG PARODIED IN THE SIMPSON’S MOVIE (from 2007)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in November 2007. Public awareness of BIG took a small step forward this summer when the Simpsons Movie made a joke about it. Homer and his family are greeted at the Alaskan border by an official who...
FATHER OF “WORKFARE” IN THE U.S. ENDORSES BIG IN IRAQ (from 2007)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in April 2007. Republican Presidential Candidate Tommy Thompson has endorsed BIG—at least in a foreign country. On his campaign website, the former Wisconsin Governor calls himself “the reliable...
Professor argues for job guarantee over basic income
Philip Harvey, a professor of law at Rutgers, argues that a job guarantee could eliminate poverty for a fraction of the cost of UBI.
Should we worry about Basic Income earners slacking?
Let’s take a step back and reflect on whether we should be working the long hours we still do and whether a hardline approach to incentivising employment is necessary and effective.
MAN CHOOSES PRISON OVER POVERTY (from 2006)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in September 2006. I was struck by a report in the Associated Press reported on October 12th that a 63-year-old Ohio man intentionally had himself convicted of bank robbery. Timothy J. Bowers sought a...
Taxless government spending for basic income
The government could introduce taxless spending through any number of programs, and Basic Income could be one of them.
BIG Bill to Be Introduced in the U.S. Congress (from 2006)
This essay was originally published in the USBIG NewsFlash in March 2006. Congressman Bob Filner (Democrat from San Diego, California) will introduce a bill in the U.S. Congress in late April 2006, entitled, “A Tax Cut For the Rest of Us.” The preamble of the...
