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.
Interview: Obama’s chief economist discusses skepticism of basic income
Conrad Shaw interviews Jason Furman, Obama’s former chief economic adviser, on why he is skeptical of basic income.
OPINION: Some Thoughts on May Day
What happened to the demand for reduced work hours? And can a demand for Basic Income take the place as its rightful successor?
EDITORIAL: Does Greater Awareness of Basic Income Increase Support?
For all we know at present, the claim that “awareness of basic income increases support” seems based in a confusion of correlation with causation.
Interview: Pitfalls of libertarianism without basic income
Daniel Eth, a PhD student at UCLA, argues that strict libertarianism, particularly without UBI, “enables oppressive systems to emerge.”
Interview: ‘Village One’ documentary follows village with basic income
The director of Village One, a new series that follows a village in Uganda where each villager is receiving an unconditional basic income, discussed the project with UBI podcast.
The bitter Italian situation: no basic income and false protection for the poor
By: Sandro Gobetti Basic income began to be debated in Italy from a diverse range of viewpoints about 4-5 years ago, when two law proposals were submitted to the Italian Parliament: one a part of the 5S Movement and the other the outcome of a popular initiative which...
Rebalancing the mix of benefit systems
In the UK, and in the medium term, no viable Citizen’s Income scheme could entirely abolish means-tested benefits.
A neoliberal Citizen’s Income?
Is it true that ‘we can draw a line between the models that are concerned with improving lives and raising living standards and those that are focused on intensifying the capacity for capitalist exploitation’?
Unconditional minimum income as primary income
By: Andrea Fumagalli Introduction: the minimum income In Italy, the debate surrounding basic income has been ongoing for almost 20 years. It began, in fact, with the August 1997 publication online (on the site ecn.org) of my pamphlet entitled “Ten theses on...
CHINA: A new paradigm in the current basic income debate
Furui Cheng In the discourse of global basic income debates, China provides the most recent example of a social dividend-style basic income, similar to the Alaskan model. In discussions surrounding Nixon’s welfare reform in the 1970s, which was a quasi-basic...
Behavioural Effects of a Citizen’s Income on wages, job security and labour supply
This article explores the behavioural effects of a BI, on workers, jobseekers and employers. It first examines contrasting hypotheses as to the effects on wages and labour supply, then use official data to make a rough estimate of these effects for individuals in different socioeconomic and household circumstances.
Review: ‘Radical proposal’ provides basic income details
This book revolves around two focal points: freedom, and Basic Income; and it might best be understood as a meditation on the relationship between them.
