Congress papers
BIEN 2022, Brisbane
BIEN 2021, Glasgow
Videos of all plenary sessions are available on youtube. Abstracts of all the concurrent sessions will be published as soon as available.
R Huss, L Fouksman, AM Köylüoğlu, J Linares, SJ Regehr, A Miller | How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected policy-making and policy-discourse around UBI? Findings of a global survey |
R Huss | UBI and UBS for Health – Adversaries or Allies? |
BIEN 2019, Hyderabad
Videos of all the plenary sessions are available on youtube. Abstracts of all the concurrent sessions are available here. Full papers and slides of some presentations are available below.
BIEN 2018, Tampere
Papers and presentations from the 2018 BIEN Congress in Tampere, Finland are available below.
Videos of the plenary sessions are viewable on YouTube.
BIEN 2017, Lisbon
This table contains the papers uploaded to the congress website prior to the congress. If other authors submit their papers then they will be added to this list.
Videos are available of many of the congress sessions. Click here to see them.
BIEN 2016, Seoul
The Proceedings of the 2016 congress are contained in a single document, in which can be found plenary session addresses and parallel session papers. Click here to download the document.
BIEN 2014, Montréal
BIEN 2012, Munich
BIEN2010, São Paulo
Author | |
Borja Barragué | |
Michèle Billoré | |
Gianluca Busilacchi |
BIEN 2008, Dublin
BIEN 2006, Cape Town
BIEN 2004, Barcelona
BIEN 2002, Geneva
BIEN 2000, Berlin
BIEN 1998, Amsterdam
Name | Paper |
Andersson, Jan-Otto (SUO) | The History of an Idea: Why did Basic Income Thrill the Finns, but not the Swedes? (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Balfour, Christopher (UK) | Selling Basic Income to UK Conservatives |
Borovali, Murat (UK) | Self-Ownership, Private Property, and Unconditional Income: A Variation on the Georgist Theme |
Chapman, David (UK) | Reforming the tax and benefit system to reduce unemployment |
Chiappero, E. (IT), with M. Serati & F. Silva | Basic income: an insidious trap or a fruitful chance for the Italian labour market? |
Christensen, Erik (DK) | An analysis of the Danish political debate on Citizen’s Income in the period 1977-97 |
Clark, Charles (US), with Catherine Kavanagh | Answering the Economic Questions and Objections to a Basic Income |
Cunliffe, John (UK), with Guido Erreyghers | Basic Endowments and Basic Income: Some Belgian Precursors |
De Beer, Paul (NL) | In search of the double-edged sword (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
De Beer, Paul (NL), with Loek Groot | Why launch a basic income experiment? |
De Wispelaere, Jurgen (B) | Job Rights, Reciprocity, and the Constitutional Approach to Basic Income |
Duboin, Marie-Louise (F) | The Civic Contract: a first step to a distributive economy |
Erreygers, Guido (B), with John Cunliffe | Basic Endowments and Basic Income: Some Belgian Precursors |
Ferge, Zsuzsa (H) | Basic Income for the Poorer Part of Europe? |
Fitzpatrick, Tony (UK) | Into an Era of Post-Social Security: Globalisation and State Pluralism |
Gamel, Claude (FR) | The use of employment rents for the financing of basic income |
Gortemaker, Philip (NL) | Basic income, a matter of the heart |
Healy, Sean (IRE), with Brigid Reynolds | From Concept to Green Paper: Putting Basic Income on the Political Agenda (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Hemerijck, Anton (NL) | Prospects for Effective Social Citizenship in an Age of Structural Inactivity (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Howard, Michael (US) | Basic Income and Cooperatives |
Hughes, Gordon (UK), with Adrian Little | New Labour, Communitarianism and the Public Sphere in the UK |
Jerusalem, Erwin (AU) | Basic Income: How it was introduced to the political agenda in Austria |
Kavanagh, Catherine (IRE), with Charles Clark | Answering the Economic Questions and Objections to a Basic Income |
Lehmann, Mary (US) | Opposing Globalization Could Justify Resource-Based Basic Income |
Lerner, Sally (CA) | Fear of freedom: a barrier to putting BI on the political agenda |
Little, Adrian (UK), with Hughes Gordon | New Labour, Communitarianism and the Public Sphere in the UK |
Loftager, Jørn (DK) | Solidarity and Universality in the Danish Welfare State |
Lunde, Thomas (CA) | The Family Basic Income Proposal |
Manning, Lowell (NZ) | The Economic Effects of Introducing a Full Universal Basic Income into the New Zealand Economy |
Metz, Paul (NL) | The daughter of Karl Marx en Adam Smith |
Mitschke, Joachim (D) | Pleading for a Negative Income Tax (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Morier-Genoud, Jean (SWI) | Toward a renovation of economic circulation and institutionsMorley-Fletcher, Edwin (IT) Opening AddressOzanira da Silva e Silva, Maria (BRA) The Minimum Income as a Policy for Increasing Child Education in BrazilPelzer, Helmut (GE) Funding of an Unconditional Basic Income in Germany via a Modified Tax/Transfer SystemPioch, Roswitha (GE) The bottom line of the welfare state in Germany and the NetherlandsQuilley, Steven (UK) Sustainable Funding of Basic Income: Environment, Citizenship & Community, and a Trajectory for Basic Income Politics in Europe (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Reynolds, Brigid (IRE), with Sean Healy | From Concept to Green Paper: Putting Basic Income on the Political Agenda (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Robeyns, Ingrid (B) | An emancipation fee or hush money? The advantages and disadvantages of a basic income for women’s emancipation and well-being (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Roos, Nikolas (NL) | Basic Income and the justice of taxationSalinas, Claudio Caesar (ARG), with Philippe Van Parijs Basic income and its cognates. Puzzling equivalence and unheeded differences between alternative ways of addressing the new social question (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) Scharpf, Fritz (D) Basic Income and Social Europe (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) |
Schutz, Robert (US) | More Basic IncomeSerati, M. (IT), with E. Chiappero & F. Silva Basic income: an insidious trap or a fruitful chance for the Italian labour market?Silva, F. (IT) ), with E. Chiappero & M. Serati Basic income: an insidious trap or a fruitful chance for the Italian labour market?Smith, Jeffery (US) From Potlatch to EarthshareStanding, Guy (SWI) Seeking Equality of Security in the Era of GlobalisationTerraz, Isabelle Redistributive Impact of a Basic Income: A Focus on Women’s SituationVan Parijs, Philippe (B), with Claudio Caesar Salinas Basic income and its cognates. Puzzling equivalence and unheeded differences between alternative ways of addressing the new social question (published in Basic Income on the Agenda) Widerquist, Karl (US) Reciprocity and the guaranteed income |
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The documentary “UBI, our right to live” is now available on YouTube
Credit Picture CC (Generation Grundeinkommen, Stefan Bohrer)
The film, directed by Alvaro Orùs, is now available on Pressenza’s youtube channel.
The 41 minutes long documentary focuses on Universal Basic Income (UBI), retracing its history, explaining its rationale, and investigating why and how the idea has reached a much larger audience and unprecedented support in the last years.
It does so with though many poignant interviews with prominent exponents of the UBI community, as Van Parijs, Guy Standing, Daniel Raventòs, Scott Santens and many others. “UBI, our right to live” makes a compelling argument for the necessity of the measure, is a manifesto for UBI in the present day, and is an excellent introduction to the subject.
The documentary addresses two of the main drivers that are bringing UBI at the center of the public debate: economic inequality and technological development. The two themes are correlated, as economic inequality has reached unsustainable levels, and automation may make it even worse, if not handled in the proper way. The risk is the increase of unemployment and growing inequalities between high and low skilled workers.
UBI could eradicate poverty altogether, and if it were to be financed through progressive taxation, reduce inequalities. Moreover, it would provide an economic safety net for workers, and thus endorse them with more bargaining power when it comes to choose a job. People could decide how to focus productively their energies in order to contribute to society and give meaning to their live, rather than being forced in unfulfilling jobs just to survive. Nobody would be left alone, as it is bound to happen under the patchwork that present-day welfare is.
The fruits of technological advancement, if distributed via a UBI, rather than accumulated in the hands of the few, may help to shape a more just future, as this is what UBI is about (something that the documentary highlights): UBI is about justice and fairness, not charity.
It’s the instrument meant to redistribute what belongs to each and every person, the natural extensions of human rights in ensuring to everybody a standard of living adequate for a human being.
More information at:
“The documentary, ‘UBI, our right to live’, now available online”, Pressenza, 15 August, 2019.
Links to Free Versions of most of Karl Widerquist’s writing
This page contains a list of links to free versions of pretty much everything I’ve ever written. Free versions are possible because most publishers allow authors to post early versions of their publications on their personal website. Where the published version is free, I’ve tried to include a link to it, but otherwise, the links below are to the early versions on my “Selected Works” webpage.
The early versions are usually the last version I wrote before sending it to the publisher. That means they usually lack copyediting, typesetting, and proofreading. They’re going to contain mistakes that aren’t in the final version. Maybe some really dumb mistakes. But otherwise, they should be good approximations of the works I eventually published.
The reason some things are missing is that it’s a hassle to post everything. If you want something that’s missing please contact me at Karl@Widerquist.com.
According to Google Scholar, my academic publications were cited 1,417 times by July 28, 2020.
My “Selected Works” website has free versions of most of my publications. My Biography, from December 3, 2016, is on BasicIncome.org.
Forthcoming Books
- Karl Widerquist and Grant McCall. 2020. The Prehistory of Private Property: Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy, Book 2, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming
- Karl Widerquist. Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge, Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
- Michael Anthony Lewis and Karl Widerquist, Economics for Social Workers: Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press (the First Edition, 2002, is available from Columbia University Press)
Published Books
- Karl Widerquist, A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, December 2018
- Karl Widerquist and Grant McCall, 2017. Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
- Karl Widerquist, Jose Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.), 2013. Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, March 2013. Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) 2012. Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform around the World, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) 2012. Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
- Karl Widerquist, Michael Anthony Lewis, and Steven Pressman (eds.), 2005. The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guhttps://works.bepress.com/widerquist/107/download/arantee, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate
- Michael Anthony Lewis and Karl Widerquist, 2002. Economics for Social Workers: The Application of Economic Theory to Social Policy and the Human Services, New York: Columbia University Press
Working papers
- Georg Arndt and Karl Widerquist, 2019, “The Cost of Basic Income in the United Kingdom: A Microsimulation Analysis,” In progress.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- Georg Arndt and Karl Widerquist, 2019, “Deceptively Simple: The Uselessness of Gross Cost in the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Universal Basic Income,” Maine Policy Review, November
- Karl Widerquist, 2019, “The Pursuit of Accord: Toward a Theory of Justice With a Second-Best Approach to the Insider-Outsider Problem,” Raisons Politiques 73 (1), 61-82
- Jean-Fabien Spitz, Hillel Steiner, Philippe Van Parijs and Karl Widerquist, 2019, “Why Private Property?” Raisons Politiques 73 (1), 119-131
- Karl Widerquist, 2018, “The Devil’s in the Caveats: A Brief Discussion of the Difficulties of Basic Income Experiments,” CESifo Forum 19 (3), September, 30-35
- Karl Widerquist, 2017, “The Cost of Basic Income: Back-of-the-Envelope Calculations,” Basic Income Studies 12 (2), December
- Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall, 2015. “Myths about the State of Nature and the Reality of Stateless Societies.” Analyse & Kritik 37 (2), August, 233-257
- Karl Widerquist, 2015. “The Piketty Observation Against the Institutional Background: How natural is this natural tendency and what can we do about it?” Basic Income Studies 10 (1), June, 83-90
- Grant S. McCall and Karl Widerquist, 2015. “The Evolution of Equality: Rethinking Variability and Egalitarianism Among Modern Forager Societies.” Ethnoarchaeology 7 (1) March: 21 – 44
- Karl Widerquist, 2010. “How the Sufficiency Minimum Becomes a Social Maximum,” Utilitas 22 (4): 474-480
- Karl Widerquist, 2010. “Lockean Theories of Property: Justifications for Unilateral Appropriation,” Public Reason 2 (3): 3-26
- Karl Widerquist, 2010. “the Physical Basis of Voluntary Trade,” Human Rights Review 11 (1): 83-103
- Karl Widerquist, 2009. “A Dilemma for Libertarianism,” Politics, Philosophy, and Economics 8 (1): 43-72
- Karl Widerquist, 2008. “Problems with Wage Subsidies: Phelps’s economic discipline and undisciplined economics” International Journal of Green Economics 2 (3): 329-339
- Karl Widerquist, “The Bottom Line in a Basic Income Experiment” Basic Income Studies 1 (2): 1-5
- Karl Widerquist, 2006. “Who Exploits Who?” Political Studies 54 (3): 444-464
- Karl Widerquist and Michael A. Lewis, 2006. “The Basic Income Guarantee and the Goals of Equality, Efficiency, and Environmentalism,” International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment 2 (1): 21-43. (Revised version published in Environment and Employment: A Reconciliation, Philip Lawn (Ed.) London: Routledge, pp. 163-183)
- Karl Widerquist, “A Failure to Communicate: What (if Anything) Can We Learn From the Negative Income Tax Experiments?” the Journal of Socio-Economics 34 (1): 49–81
- Karl Widerquist, 2003. “Public Choice and Altruism,” the Eastern Economic Journal 29 (3): 277-278
- Karl Widerquist, 2001. “Perspectives on the Guaranteed Income, Part II” the Journal of Economic Issues 35 (4): 1019-1030
- Karl Widerquist, 2001. “Perspectives on the Guaranteed Income, Part I” the Journal of Economic Issues 35 (3): 749–757
- Karl Widerquist, 1999. “Reciprocity and the Guaranteed Income” Politics and Society, 33 (3): 386–401
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
- Karl Widerquist, forthcoming, “The Negative Income Tax Experiments of the 1970s,” the Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income. Malcolm Torry (editor). New York: Palgrave-Macmillan
- Karl Widerquist, forthcoming, “Three Waves of Basic Income Support,” the Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income. Malcolm Torry (editor). New York: Palgrave-Macmillan
- Karl Widerquist, March 2018, “My Own Private Basic Income.” In Amy Downes and Stewart Lansley (eds.) It’s Basic Income: the Global Debate, Bristol, UK: Policy Press, an Imprint of the University of Bristol Press, pp. 48-53. Also published in OpenDemocracy, June 27, 2017 (more than 47,000 downloads)
- Karl Widerquist, December 22, 2016. “The People’s Endowment.” In Axel Gosseries and Inigo Gonzalez (eds.) Institutions for Future Generations, Oxford University Press, pp. 312-330
- Karl Widerquist, September 26, 2013, “The Basic Income Grant as Social Safety Net for Namibia: Experience and lessons from around the world,” in Social safety nets in Namibia: Assessing current programmes and future options, Research Department of the Bank of Namibia (editor), Windhoek, Namibia: Bank of Namibia, pp. 43-67
- Karl Widerquist, March 31, 2013. “Is Basic Income Still Worth Talking About?” in The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination in the 21st Century Volume II, Robert S Rycroft (ed.) Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, pp. 568-584
- Karl Widerquist and Allan Sheahen, September 3, 2012. “The Basic Income Guarantee in the United States: Past Experience, Current Proposals,” in Basic Income Worldwide: Horizons of Reform, Matthew Murray and Carole Pateman (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 11-32
- Karl Widerquist, 2012. “Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Basic Income in Practice,” Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship. Report of the Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile Word, American Political Science Association (ed.). Washington, DC: The American Political Science Association (April), p. 64
- Karl Widerquist, 2011. “Why we Demand an Unconditional Basic Income: the ECSO freedom case,” in Arguing about Justice: Essays for Philippe Van Parijs, Axel Gosseries and Yannick Vanderborght (eds.) Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Presses universitaires de Louvain, pp. 387-394
- Karl Widerquist, 2009. “Libertarianism,” in the International Encyclopedia of Public Policy: Governance in a Global Age, Volume 3, Phillip O’Hara (Ed.) Perth: GPERU, pp. 338-350
- Karl Widerquist, 2008. “An Introduction to Citizens Capital Accounts,” in Social Aspects of Green Economics, Miriam Kennet (ed.) Oxford: Green Economics Institute, pp. 79-80.
- Robert Levine, Harold Watts, Robinson Hollister, Walter Williams, Alice O’Connor, and Karl Widerquist, 2005. “A Retrospective on the Negative Income Tax Experiments: Looking Back at the Most Innovative Field Studies in Social Policy,” in The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee, Karl Widerquist, Michael A. Lewis, and Steven Pressman (eds.) Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, pp. 95-106.
- Karl Widerquist, 2005. “Does She Exploit or Doesn’t She?” in The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee, Karl Widerquist, Michael A. Lewis, and Steven Pressman (eds.), Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005, pp. 138-162
- Karl Widerquist, 2004. “The Labour Market Findings of the Negative Income Tax Experiments and Their Effects on Policy and Public Opinion,” in Promoting Income Security as a Right: Europe and North America, Guy Standing (ed.), London, Anthem Press, pp. 497-537
Non-Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications Including Book Chapters and Journal Articles
- Karl Widerquist, 2013. “Reciprocity and Exploitation,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Jose A. Noguera and Karl Widerquist, 2013. “Basic Income as a Post-Productivist Policy,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Yannick Vanderborght, José A. Noguera, and Karl Widerquist, 2013. “Politics,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, Yannick Vanderborght, and José A. Noguera, 2013. “The Idea of an Unconditional Income for Everyone,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, and Yannick Vanderborght, 2013. “The Implementation of Basic Income,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, 2013. “Theories of Justice and Basic Income,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Yannick Vanderborght and Karl Widerquist, 2013. “The Feminist Response to Basic Income,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, 2013. “Freedom and Basic Income,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, and Yannick Vanderborght, 2013. “The Economics of Basic Income,” in Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research, Karl Widerquist, José A. Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard, 2012. “The Alaska Model as a Menu of Options,” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 243-251
- Karl Widerquist, 2012.“Reply to Comments,” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 233-240
- Karl Widerquist, 2012. “Citizens’ Capital Accounts: A Proposal,” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 183-203
- Karl Widerquist, 2012. “Exporting the Alaska Model to Alaska: How Big Could the Permanent Fund Be if the State Really Tried? And Can a Larger Fund Insulate an Oil-Exporter from the End of the Boom?” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 169-180
- Karl Widerquist, 2012. “A Permanent Endowment for the United States,” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 163-167
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard, 2012. “Critical Reflections on the Future of Alaska’s Permanent Fund and Dividend,” in Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.), New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 115-122
- Michael W. Howard and Karl Widerquist, 2012. “Why Link Basic Income to Resource Taxation?” in Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 205-220
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard, 2012. “Lessons from the Alaska Model,” in Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 221-228
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard, 2012. “Exporting an Idea,” in Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform Around the World, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3-14
- Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard, 2012. “Success in Alaska,” in Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, Karl Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (eds.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3-15
- Karl Widerquist and Jurgen De Wispelaere, 2006. “Launching a Basic Income Journal” Basic Income Studies 1 (1): 1-6
- Michael Lewis, Steven Pressman & Karl Widerquist, 2005. “The basic income guarantee and social economics,” The Review of Social Economy 63 (4): 587-593. (Revised version published as “An introduction to the Basic Income Guarantee” in The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee, Widerquist, Lewis, Pressman (eds.), Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005)
- Karl Widerquist, 2005. “Discussion” Time for Land Value Tax? Dominic Maxwell and Anthony Vigor (eds.) London: Institute for Public Policy Research, pp. 60-64
- Karl Widerquist, 2005. “Introduction,” The Journal of Socio-Economics 34 (1): 1–2
Book Reviews
- Karl Widerquist, 2019, “Book Review – The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future,” Delphi – Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Technologies 2, Issue 1, 59 – 60
- Karl Widerquist, 2014, “Review of Marshall Brain: Manna: Two Visions of Humanity’s Future.” Basic Income News:org
- Karl Widerquist, 2014, “Review of The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies.” Basic Income News:org
- Karl Widerquist 2011 “Review Essay: Two Memoirs Tell the History of the Alaska Dividend,” Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2010. “Review of The Street Porter and the Philosopher: Conversations on Analytical Egalitarianism,” Sandra J. Peart and David M. Levy (eds.),” the Eastern Economic Journal 36 (2): 277-278
- Karl Widerquist, 2010. “Review of In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State, Charles Murray,” Review of Political Economy 22 (1): 170-174
- Karl Widerquist, 2009. “Review of Natural Justice, Ken Binmore,” Utilitas 21 (4): pp. 529-532
- Karl Widerquist, 2009. “Jeremy Waldron’s Legal Philosophy and the Basic Income Debate, comment on three books by Jeremy Waldron,” Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2009. “Review of Just Distribution: Rawlsian Liberalism and the Politics of Basic Income, Simon Birnbaum,” Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2008. “Review of The Failed Welfare Revolution: America’s Struggle over Guaranteed Income Policy, Brian Steensland,” Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2007. “Review of the Ethics of Stakeholding, Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere, and Stuart White,” the Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2005. “Review of Libertarianism Without Inequality, Michael Otsuka,” the Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2004. “Review of Work Behavior of the World’s Poor: Theory Evidence and Policy, Mohammed Sharif,” the Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2004. “Review of The Civic Minimum, Stuart White,” the Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2004. “Review of Real Libertarianism Assessed, Andrew Reeve and Andrew Williams (eds.),” the Citizens Income Newsletter (1)
- Karl Widerquist, 2004. “Review of Economics as Religion: from Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond, Robert H. Nelson,” the Eastern Economic Journal 30 (1): 153-155
- Karl Widerquist, 2001. “Review of The Political Economy of Inequality, Ackerman, Goodwin, Dougherty, and Gallagher (eds.),” the Journal of Economic Issues 35 (4): 1054-1056
Opinions, Editorials, and interviews (selected)
- Karl Widerquist, “America is in crisis. We need universal basic income now [The usual arguments against UBI don’t apply to the Emergency UBI],” the Guardian, 20 Mar 2020
- Karl Widerquist, “End the Threat of Economic Destitution Now,” Open Democracy, 17 September 2019
- Karl Widerquist, “The Growth of the Australian Basic Income Movement,” in Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward, Elise Klein, Jennifer Mays, and Tim Dunlop (eds.) New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
- Karl Widerquist, “Basic Income’s Third Wave,” OpenDemocracy, October 18, 2017
- Karl Widerquist, “The Alaska Model: a citizen’s income in practice,” Our Kingdom, Democratic Wealth: building a citizens’ economy. 24 April 2013
- Karl Widerquist “Commentary: Let’s change the way Alaska Permanent Fund pays dividends,” the Alaska Dispatch, December 5, 2012
- Karl Widerquist “Interesting Times Ahead for Alaska Permanent Fund,” the Alaska Dispatch, June 3, 2012
- Karl Widerquist “How Alaska Can Avoid the Third-Stage Resource Curse,” the Alaska Dispatch, February 27, 2012
- Karl Widerquist “Viewpoint: Lessons of the Alaska Dividend,” Citizens Income Newsletter, Issue 3, 2010
- Karl Widerquist “A BIG Idea: A Minimum Income Guarantee,” Multinational Monitor, Volume 30, No. 3, May/Jun 2009
- Karl Widerquist “Viewpoint: What Does the Stone Age Have to Do With Us?” Citizens Income Newsletter, Issue 3, 2008
- Karl Widerquist “Conference Report: The Eleventh BIEN Congress” Citizens Income Newsletter Issue 2, 2007
- Karl Widerquist “Re-Reading Keynes: Economic Possibilities of Our Grandparents” Dissent, Winter 2006
- Karl Widerquist “The Basic Income Guarantee,” Synthesis/Regeneration 26, Fall 2001
- Karl Widerquist “The Money-Making Ethic,” Chronogram Magazine, New Paltz, NY, January 1999
- Karl Widerquist “Blaming the Worker,” Chronogram Magazine, January 1998
Translations
- Karl Widerquist & Michael W. Howard, “作为备选方案的阿拉斯加模式 [The Alaska Model as a Menu of Options]” 实验主义治理 [Experimental Governance], translated by Cheng Furui, September 2015
- Karl Widerquist, “两本回忆录讲述阿拉斯加社会分红的历史 [Two Memoirs Tell the History of the Alaska Dividend]” 实验主义治理 [Experimental Governance], translated by Cheng Furui, August 2015
- Karl Widerquist, “基本收入与作为“说不”的权力的自由 [Freedom as the power to say no]” 实验主义治理 [Experimental Governance], translated by Gao Zhen, July 2015
- Karl Widerquist “Predicciones de Keynes: ‘Las posibilidades económicas de nuestros nietros’ Una visión restrospectiva” Ciudadanos: Critica Política y Propuesta Año 6, No. 10 El Futuro (Invierno de 2006). Traducido por José Villadeamigo, pp. 55-60 de “Re-Reading Keynes” Dissent
Legislation
“Tax Cut for the Rest of Us Act” of 2006. House Resolution 5257, introduced into the 109th Congress on May 2, 2006 was based entirely on: Karl Widerquist and Al Sheahen, “A Proposal to Transform the Standard Deduction into a Refundable Tax Credit” USBIG Discussion Paper No. 93, August 2004
Brazil: Small city in Brazil implements a modest, partial basic income
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