by Andre Coelho | Jun 8, 2019 | News
Louise Haagh, presently Reader at the University of York, and Chair of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), just released a new book, through Polity: The case for Universal Basic Income. A summary is featured on the editor’s page:
Advocated (and attacked) by commentators across the political spectrum, paying every citizen a basic income regardless of their circumstances sounds utopian. However, as our economies are transformed and welfare states feel the strain, it has become a hotly debated issue.
In this compelling book, Louise Haagh, one of the world’s leading experts on basic income, argues that Universal Basic Income is essential to freedom, human development and democracy in the twenty-first century. She shows that, far from being a silver bullet that will transform or replace capitalism, or a sticking plaster that will extend it, it is a crucial element in a much broader task of constructing a democratic society that will promote social equality and humanist justice. She uses her unrivalled knowledge of the existing research to unearth key issues in design and implementation in a range of different contexts across the globe, highlighting the potential and pitfalls at a time of crisis in governing and public austerity.
This book will be essential reading for anyone who wants to get beyond the hype and properly understand one of the most important issues facing politics, economics and social policy today.
Louise Haagh will be featured in several events and talks in the next few months, given this recent publication. These include Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Institute for Public Policy Research, University of Bath, BIEN Ireland, BIEN Congress in India, BIEN-RSA Civic Forum in Scotland, and at a range of local venues in the United Kingdom, for instance the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Café Economique, and North Yorkshire Humanists, as well as internationally at the World Health Organisation‘s (WHO) High-level Conference on Health Equity in the WHO European Region, to be held in Slovenia.
More details can be found in an online Appendix.
by Tyler Prochazka | Jun 4, 2019 | Opinion
The wave of basic income experiments in the last two years was a positive development in giving Universal Basic Income (UBI) some level of attention and political legitimacy in Western countries.
It is time to recognize the experimental wave is coming to an end.
Basic income activists in the next wave of UBI political discussions should push for policy changes in the direction of basic income. There are ongoing and completed trials testing cash transfers in countries with different stages of economic development. It makes more sense to build a foundation for policy changes as these results trickle out over the next few years rather than pushing for yet another experiment.
In Canada, the push for experiments backfired because a Conservative government canceled it before any results could be collected. I supported Ontario’s experiment and there was value in the research.
However, Ontario’s cancellation demonstrated that as activists move forward, we must recognize that experiments do not create a political constituency. In Alaska, the partial basic income policy has broad and significant support because everyone has benefited from it. Building a constituency that can be expanded and deepened is where activist energy should be placed in the next stage.
UNICEF funded experiments in India helped make basic income a real political discussion there, and now basic income inspired policies are being proposed by both of the main parties and a minimum income is set to be implemented in the state of Sikkim.
Experiments in developing countries and regions where basic income is still not well known may still be politically necessary. In Western countries, though, activist energy on more experiments rather than policy action seems ill-placed since UBI has already entered mainstream discussion in the West.
Experiments have already shown us cash transfers make people happier, healthier, and free them to pursue what they are interested in. The myths about basic income have been consistently undermined, particularly the idea that it would decrease work in any meaningful way. More experiments will keep telling us that giving people cash is generally good in most of the ways we measure positive outcomes.
How many times do we need an experiment to tell us cash transfers do not make people “lazy”?
Those who will not be convinced by the existing and upcoming experimental results will not be convinced by yet another experiment. The reaction to Finland’s experiment is evidence that unpersuadable opponents will latch onto even neutral effects on employment to prove basic income is a “failure.”
To truly put UBI to the test in America and Europe, actual policies that incorporate significant elements of basic income should be pushed. Cory Booker’s baby bonds is a start. Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit that incorporates students and caregivers would instantly help millions. Political campaigns such as Andrew Yang’s are also important to bring the debate to a mainstream audience.
That is not to say pilot programs with the intent of expansion are not helpful. These provide valuable information to governments on how to implement basic income. Pilot programs with the primary intent of yet more research on “laziness” are the issue.
However, as the experimental wave of basic income begins to sunset, activists must look toward the next wave, which should focus on concrete policy steps that realize the spirit of basic income.
For these reasons, I see more experiments as an inefficient use of activist energy in the West. Worse, pushing experiments focused on gathering more data trades off with more useful discussions of how to bring elements of UBI to reality in the near-term.
by Andre Coelho | May 31, 2019 | News
Maricá at a distance.
Original article by Eduardo Suplicy
Last Saturday, May 25th 2019, an event took place in Maricá, a city on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, where the mayor Fabiano Horta (representant from PT, Partido dos Trabalhadores), vice mayor Marcos Ribeiro and the secretary of Solidarity Economy, Diego Zeidan, announced that, from July 2019 onward, 50000 citizens, a third of its 150000 inhabitants, will receive a Citizen’s Basic Income of 130 Mumbucas, a local electronic currency, equivalent to 130 reais, or US$ 32,5 per month. The plan is to have all Maricá’s citizens receiving this unconditional cash, at least until the end of the present city government legislature.
Longtime politician (presently councilman in the City of São Paulo) and basic income activist Eduardo Suplicy had already explained the advantages of implementing basic income in Brazil, as a part of a general upgrade of social policy in the country. That policy, actually, has been written into Brazilian law since 2004 (Law 10.835/2004), but sanctioned by president Lula on January 8th 2004. There, it says that a basic income shall be rolled out in Brazil, step by step, starting with those most in need, until one day it benefits all citizens.
After an important Conference on Human Rights, held in Brazil in December 2015, where Suplicy reinforced his views, Maricá’s mayor at the time, Washington Quaquá, manifested his intention of implementing the Citizen’s Basic Income in his city. That same month, he was able to pass his purpose into municipal law, which would be introduced in phases: 95 Mumbucas per month in 2016 (85 Mumbucas from a Minimum Income program, plus 10 Mumbucas/month), 130 Mumbucas per month in 2017 (110 Mumbucas from the Minimum Income program, plus 20 Mumbucas/month), disbursed to 14000 families, and now in 2019, starting in July, that same amount will be enlarged to cover 50000 individuals. This payment will be now limited to citizens who belong to families enrolled in the Unique Register, having monthly incomes lower than three minimum wages (1 minimum wage is equal to around 1000 reais/month), but expected to cover all citizens in the village by 2021.
So, the ongoing cash transfer in Maricá is done in a non-transferable social local currency (Mumbuca), is set to cover one third of the population (although projected to cover the whole population by 2021), and amounts to the equivalent of 67% of the individual official poverty line in Brazil (1). Although far from ideal, this is a very significant step when in comparison to some recent basic income test trials such as in Finland (2000 unemployed citizens receiving 560 €/month for two years), Stockton California (125 citizens receiving 500 US$/month for 18 months), Namibia (1000 people in Otijivero receiving the equivalent to 12 US$/month, for 12 months) and India (6000 people in Madhya Pradesh receiving 300 (adults) and 150 (children) rupees/month, for 36 months).
Even though the Mumbuca is a local currency, most commercial stores in Maricá accept it. Also, a Communitary Bank Mumbuca was created in order to provide microcredit at zero interest rates, in Mumbucas, which can also fund housing projects. Maricá mayors (Quaquá and Horta) have, on the other hand, introduced social security measures / programs alongside with this more general basic income approach. For instance, a minimum income program has been created for pregnant mothers and youngsters. Additionally, starting in 2019, another specific program was initiated, dispensing 300 Mumbucas/month to 200 indigenous people that live in small villages near Maricá. There is also a Future Mumbuca program for young people, that are currently enrolled in high school courses involving solidary economy and entrepreneurship, which will pay 1200 Mumbucas per year. In that program, the valued is transferred once the youngster completes high school, starts a firm, a cooperative or becomes an undergraduate student.
Other social support programs have been created in Maricá, over the years, such as free transportation (14 lines in Maricá’s urban area), and special conditions for university students (around 4000), in and out of Maricá. Plenty other public investments were made in education, health, and even organic farming. This unusual plentiful municipal budget (16665 reais/inhabitant, compared to São Paulo’s 5041 reais/inhabitant) is the product of oil exploration royalties along Maricá’s coast. Despite the inherent pollutant nature of this municipal revenue stream, past and present city mayors have been investing in providing better living conditions for the population within their administration’s borders. This way, Maricá has become a bright example for all municipalities in Brazil, as well as for the federal government.
Note (1) – The official poverty line in Brazil stands at 387 reais/month per family. Considering a two-adult composition in each family, this equates to 194 reais/month per (adult) individual.
Article reviewed by André Coelho
by Sarath Davala | Apr 30, 2019 | News
As students of life, some of us have lived through poverty, through the worried nights of insecurity, the feeling of being powerless and valueless. Some of us have seen the angst of unemployment, the feeling of being unwanted, the restless days of sitting at home while others go to work, and the lull of the nights that is not entirely peace.
Some of us are scholars committed to understanding poverty and economic insecurity. We try to find the underlying political and economic causes of inequity and ways of solving them. We see a vision for the future, and try to lay down steps to overcome poverty and build a more equitable society.
All of us whose vocabulary has been informed by the lived experience of poverty and unemployment, or those of us who may have an indirect knowledge or experience of it; all are invited. We may be students, artists, researchers, social workers, community organizers, development practitioners, and politicians. We can also be those who have no claim to any such knowledge or experience, and those who fervently dream of a better world.
For the 19th BIEN Congress, India Network for Basic Income plans to publish an anthology of different kinds of writing on themes surrounding Basic Income and what it hopes to address – unfreedom, new forms of slavery, poverty, economic insecurity, being debt-ridden, addiction, deprivation, depression – and the sense of shame that accompanies each of these states of mind. The list can be almost endless. The writings can also be of different kinds:
Poems
Short story / parable
Biography / Autobiography / memoir
Personal reflection
Interview / conversation
Cartoon
Painting
Graffiti
Please ensure that the writing does not exceed 1000 words.
INBI invites contributions to this anthology, as an open call until 15th of June 2019. These shall be sent to Akhilesh Arya at akhilesh.arya@gmail.com.
by Guest Contributor | Apr 16, 2019 | News
Basic Income Exhibition and Youth Basic Income to be launched
Gyeonggi province, the most populous region in South Korea, will be hosting an exhibition on basic income on April 29th and 30th to coincide with the launching of its Youth Basic Income program. The program will unconditionally give one million Korean Won ($US900) in local currency per year to 24-year-old residents of Gyeonggi province.
The program was first piloted when the now provincial governor of Gyeonggi, Lee Jaemyung, was the mayor of Seongnam City. Lee Jaemyung made the expansion of his Youth Dividend program part of his winning electoral manifesto in last year’s local election, and the program will be expanded to the whole of Gyeonggi province starting this April.
The Basic Income Exhibition will largely be composed of three parts. First, a provincial fair will be held with 31 cities and counties participating where local specialties could be purchased with the local currency. Second, a promotional platform for basic income will be created, introducing its history, meaning, and experiments that have helped make it a reality. Third, a conference will be held under the subject of ‘Basic Income: A New Paradigm in the Age of Cooperation’. The conference will discuss basic income experiments and policies that are proceeding around the world, and go on to consider how basic income relates to the commonwealth, technological changes, the status of women, democracy, and the very definition of social value.
The keynote speakers of the conference are Annie Miller, co-founder of BIEN and the chair of UK Citizens’ Basic Income Trust, and Kang Namhoon, the chair of Basic Income Korea Network (BIKN), and they will give keynote addresses, respectively titled ‘From Vision to Reality: A New Age of Justice, Peace and Welfare’, and ‘Life in the Future driven by Technology Innovation and Basic Income’.
In addition, Governor Lee Jaemyung will present the outlines of Gyeonggi Province’s Youth Dividend program in a session on discussing the various basic income experiments and pilot programs around the world.
Other guest speakers of the conference include Almaz Zelleke (NYU Shanghai), Tomohiro Inoue (Komazawa University, Japan), Sarath Davala (Vice-chair of BIEN, India), Sam Manning (Y Combinator, USA). Leading members of BIKN, such as Min Geum, Nowan Kwack, Junghee Seo, Seungho Baek, Kyoseong Kim, Sophia Seungyoon Lee, Hyosang Ahn, will also attend as speakers at the conference.
The Youth Basic Income program that became the catalyst for the upcoming exhibition/conference is far from ideal, limited as it is in both the age group and amount involved. But it will be one of the biggest pilot programs of basic income so far in the world, involving some 170,000 people, and an excellent opportunity to observe the community effect of a basic income, with the results being analyzed by the Gyeonggi Research Institute.
One of the controversies surrounding Gyeonggi Province’s Youth Basic Income is that it will be given in local currency, which is only usable within the province rather than in cash, quite far from being an ideal basic income.
Despite its limitations, there are some hopes for the program. Given that the local currency can be only be used in small businesses of the province, it could stimulate the local economy and provide the base for a broader coalition in support of the basic income program, and basic income in general. Moreover, basic income can be regarded as part of a broader reimagining of society, and local currencies are a way to reconstruct social economies and could be part of that reimagining. As Thomas Paine once said, time makes more converts than reason, and while the youth basic income is limited, it can certainly be a step forward for basic income into political reality.
Hyosang Ahn (Executive Director of BIKN)
