by Craig Axford | Feb 28, 2014 | Research
Image by Dave Ron
[Craig Axford]
Canada’s 1970s experiment with a basic income guarantee in a small town in Manitoba is revisited in this article. Though the Mincome pilot program came to an end in 1978 without the impacts of the program receiving much analysis, that changed when Evelyn Forget, professor of health sciences at the University of Manitoba, gained access to the data in 2009.
Vivian Belik, “A Town Without Poverty?”, The Dominion, September 5, 2011
by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 25, 2013 | Research
On October 25, 2013, basic income made the front page of the Flemish left-of-centre daily De Morgen. The article referred to a new book authored by Peter De Keyzer, a chief economist at the bank BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels. In his book, entitled “Growth makes happy”, De Keyzer advocates the implementation of a substantial basic income of EUR1,000 per month in Belgium, and the suppression of several existing benefits (such as pensions and social assistance). The article also includes an interview with Evelyn Forget (University of Manitoba) about the Canadian BI experiments in the 1970s, as well as with Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain University). According to Van Parijs, “In Europe, the idea of a basic income has never been so lively than these days”. The President of the Flemish Green Party, Wouter Van Besien, criticizes the proposal made by De Keyzer, as it would- he argues – lead to more inequality and more poverty. The editorial of De Morgen, by Bart Eeckhout, is also entirely devoted to basic income. It is entitled “Basic income is worth a discussion”.
The editorial by Bart Eeckhout can be read online (although its title is different from the printed version). The article itself is not available online.
by Karl Widerquist | Sep 2, 2013 | Research
Evelyn Forget
From 1974 to 1979, a basic income social experiment known under the name of “Mincome Program” took place in a small Canadian town. Evelyn Forget, researcher, is one of the very few persons who have studied the sociological impact of the guaranteed income experiment. In this interview with Stanislas Jourdan, she explains more about her findings, 30 years after the experiment ended.
Stanislas Jourdan, “A Way to Get Healthy: Basic Income Experiments in Canada,” Basic Income UK, August 7, 2013. This article was first published in french on revenudebase.info
by Karl Widerquist | Jun 13, 2013 | News
This YouTube audio-video montage is a 7-minute Canadian Broadcasting Company radio interview with Evelyn Forget on her examination of the results of the guaranteed income experiment conducted in Dauphin, Manitoba in the 1970s. The accompanying video displays facts about poverty and inequality. Forget found many positive effects including an 8 percent reduction in hospital emissions. She explains that when you work in a hospital, “a lot of what you’re treating is the effects of poverty.”
It’s online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pQ1CapAOu7M
by Karl Widerquist | Nov 25, 2012 | News
Twelfth Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress: Basic Income and Economic Citizenship
Thursday May 9th to Saturday May 11th, 2013
Sheraton Hotel and Towers, New York City
The Twelfth Annual North American Basic Income Congress, Basic Income and Economic Citizenship, will take place in New York City on Thursday, May 9th through Saturday, May 11th, 2013. The congress is organized by the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in cooperation with the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN/RCRG), and will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA). Attendees at the North American Basic Income Congress are welcome to attend any of the EEA’s events.
Featured speakers include Carole Pateman, UCLA and Cardiff University, co-author of Basic Income Worldwide: Horizons of Reform; Sheri Berman, Barnard College, author of The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe’s Twentieth Century; Jurgen De Wispelaere, University of Montréal, co-editor of The Ethics of Stakeholding; David Casassas, University of Barcelona, co-editor of Basic Income in the Age of Great Inequalities; James Riccio, MDRC, co-author of “Toward Reduced Poverty Across Generations: Early Findings from New York City’s Conditional Cash Transfer Program;” Darrick Hamilton, The New School, co-author of “Can ‘Baby Bonds’ Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America?” and Evelyn Forget, University of Manitoba, author of “The Town with No Poverty: A history of the North American Guaranteed Annual Income Social Experiments.”
All points of view are welcome, and proposals from any discipline are invited. For more information see the call for papers at: www.usbig.net.
Or contact the congress organizer, Almaz Zelleke of USBIG, at azelleke@gmail.com.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: November 30th, 2012
