by Kate McFarland | Nov 20, 2016 | Research
Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg, Professor Emerita of Social Work at Adelphi University, evaluates the relative merits of income guarantees and job guarantees in a recent article for the national US labor journal New Labor Forum (published by the Murphy Institute and the City University of New York).
The paper ends inconclusively (and with a Philippe van Parijs quote):
There are important drawbacks to both approaches. The UBI is expensive, inefficient and, in the United States, counter-culture. By contrast, the JG suffers from public denial of the magnitude of unemployment, its dependence on government expansion, and the enmity of powerful interest groups. Yet the serious problems that both strategies address impel us to continue to discuss, debate, advocate, agitate, modify, and perhaps find alternatives. As Van Parijs writes, “. . . seismic events do occur, and it is important to prepare intellectually for when a political opportunity suddenly arises.”
Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg, “Employment or Income Guarantees: Which Would Do the Better Job?” New Labor Forum 2016, Vol 25(3): 92-100
Download: https://njfac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NLFJobsIncomGuar.pdf
Photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Brian Dys Sahagun
by Kate McFarland | Nov 11, 2016 | News
The 2016 Global Action Summit, convening November 14-15 in Nashville, Tennessee, will include a panel on issues such as automation, the future of work, and universal basic income.
The annual summit of the Global Action Platform brings together corporate and nonprofit leaders, government officials, academics, and other invited guests for a series of keynote lectures and panel discussions. This year, 400 invited guests will take part in discussions on the theme of “scalable, sustainable solutions for abundant food, health, and prosperity.”
Of particular note to Basic Income News is a panel on the topic “Life in a Post-Employment Society”, whose participants include two prominent figures in the basic income movement (see short video clips below): Jim Pugh, who co-founded the Universal Income Project and The Basic Income Podcast, and freelance UBI writer Scott Santens. Completing the panel are M. Douglas Meeks, Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt University, and Michael Tanner, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Tanner has previously expressed skepticism of universal basic income, despite acknowledging potential advantages over the current state. More recently, he moderated a high-profile basic income forum with Charles Murray and Andy Stern.
During this panel, corporate advisor Bob Castro will moderate a discussion of ways in which governments or other institutions can help individuals and society cope with a world with fewer opportunities for employment. Panelists will address such topics as the feasibility of a universal basic income and possibilities for finding personal meaning outside of jobs.
The 2016 Global Action Summit will take place November 14-15 in Nashville, Tennessee, and the “Life in a Post-Employment Society” panel will be held on the afternoon of Monday, November 14.
The conference’s keynote speaker is journalist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria, who will offer a forecast of the effect of the election of US President Donald Trump on food security, health, and prosperity. Zakaria himself recently moderated another high-profile basic income debate, between pro-UBI Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes and anti-UBI New York Times columnist Eduardo Porter.
A complete schedule of other panels and events at the Global Action Summit is available at this page: https://globalactionplatform.org/pages/view/global-action-summit.
Note that registration is open only to participants and invited guests.
Reviewed by Genevieve Shanahan
Photo CC BY 2.0 Steve Jurvetson
by Kate McFarland | Jul 15, 2016 | News
On Friday, July 15, MA Fine Art Digital at Camberwell College of Arts is hosting a short workshop entitled “Universal basic income: the future of creative employment in a post-work world,” held at the University of the Arts in London, UK.
It is free to all University of the Arts London students, graduates, and staff, and aimed primarily at students graduating in the creative industries.
According to the event description, the workshop will examine universal basic income along with “emerging models of post-capitalism and post-work.” Small group discussions will be oriented around the topic of whether UBI and models of a “post-work” world “provide fruitful areas for artists and designers to explore and help define.”
The workshop is being held as part of Graduate Futures Week, which has been designed to provide students and graduates in the arts with “practical and inspirational talks, one-to-one support, employment opportunities and industry networking.”
Photo: Camberwell Art School (Public Domain)
by Andre Coelho | May 22, 2016 | News
Santiago Bilinkis, at The Future of Employment IDEA Annual Conference
Although the event happened on the 22nd of October 2015, it is still relevant to take note of Santiago Bilinkis‘ presentation on technological innovation and its effect on the work market. According to Bilinkis, an economist specialized in technological issues and consequences for society, there is considerable denial in society today, which mounts barriers against the unstoppable evolution of technology. During this presentation, held at the 51th IDEA Annual Conference (titled “El future del empleo” (“The future of employment”)), Bilinkis spoke not only about basic income as a possible solution for massive technological unemployment, guaranteeing a minimum income level for all people regardless of their job situation, but also about John Maynard Keynes’ vision of almost 100 years ago; Kenyes predicted that, eventually, machines would perform most human tasks, society would be much more egalitarian and luxuries would be socially unacceptable. His vision is one of recognition of the present social situation and which presents a positive view on society’s capacity to improve its well-being, taking advantage of the exponential technological developments of today.
More information (in Spanish) at:
IDEA Argentina, “51º Coloquio Anual de IDEA – El futuro del empleo [51th IDEA Annual Conference – The future of employment]”, Instituto para el Desarollo Empresarial de la Argentina, October 22nd 2015
by Karl Widerquist | May 15, 2016 | News
![Reuters/ Gary Cameron via Quartz]( "Reuters/ Gary Cameron via Quartz")
Reuters/ Gary Cameron via Quartz
According to this article, “Universal Basic Income isn’t just mankind’s answer to the threat of robots in the workplace … The idealistic-sounding scheme would also solve many other 21st century problems …”
Olivia Goldhill, “All of the problems Universal Basic Income can solve that have nothing to do with unemployment” Quartz, April 24, 2016
