by Josh Martin | Dec 26, 2014 | Research
[Josh Martin]
In this opinion piece in an Indian newspaper, Guy Standing, who was one of the driving architects behind the Indian basic income pilot projects in the past few years, argues for a basic income as a better alternative to the large subsidies in place that are aimed to help those in poverty buy goods at discounted prices. Standing points out the inefficiencies of the subsidy programs and then promotes the three main effects of the basic income: it improves personal and community welfare, stimulates growth, and harbors an emancipatory value that boosts the other two effects.
Guy Standing, “Cash transfers can work better than subsidies”, The Hindu, 6 December 2014.
necessary?“The Public Distribution System acts as a deterrent to local food production.” Picture shows a woman showing her ration card to purchase subsidised rice in Rayagada, Odisha.— Photo: AP (Source: The Hindu)
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 8, 2014 | Research
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Would it be possible to provide people with a basic income as a right? The idea has a long history. This book draws on two pilot schemes conducted in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, in which thousands of men, women and children were provided with an unconditional monthly cash payment.
Book Cover
In a context in which the Indian government at national and state levels spends a vast amount on subsidies and selective schemes that are chronically expensive, inefficient, inequitable and subject to extensive corruption, there is scope for switching at least some of the spending to a modest basic income. This book explores what would be likely to happen if this were done.
The book draws on a series of evaluation surveys conducted over the course of the eighteen months in which the main pilot was in operation, supplemented with detailed case studies of individuals and families. It looks at the impact on health and nutrition, on schooling, on economic activity, women’s agency and the welfare of those with disabilities.
Above all, the book considers whether or not a basic income could be transformative, in not only improving individual and family welfare but in promoting economic growth and development, as well as having an emancipatory effect for people long mired in conditions of poverty and economic insecurity.
Sarath Davala, Renana Jhabvala, Soumya Kapoor Mehta, and Guy Standing. Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India. New Delhi: Bloomsbury Publishing India, December 2014.
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 2, 2014 | News
Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE) is organising a series of five conferences on the theme “UBI in Europe – Promoting civil society” in order to promote Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) in Europe over the next year. The conferences are:
- UBI as a response to social inequality in Europe – Maribor, Slovenia, 19th-20th March 2015.
- Minimum Income vs. Basic Income – Paris, France, 19th -20th June 2015
- Stimulating Social Cohesion and Peace – The Hague, Netherlands, 17th -18th Sept. 2015
- National UBI vs. UBI in Europe – Budapest, Hungary, 5th – 6th Dec. 2015
- UBI and Degrowth – Cologne, Germany, 26th – 28th Feb. 2016
For each of those events, organizers want to adopt a participative way of elaborating the programs, and therefore, they are seeking for contributions to our first conference to be held in Maribor, Slovenia, 19th-20th March 2015.
The invitation is open to all European citizens with a wider interest in unconditional basic income who wish to share their findings and research with a European network. The conference in Maribor will explore the following key themes:
- Different social support systems and inequality
- Reaching social cohesion in Europe – Basic Income as one possible solution
The deadline for proposals is 8th January. For more details on how to participate, please see the conference website.
See also UBIE’s calendar of events.
UBIE Conference in Slovenia
by Toby | Oct 30, 2014 | Research
Assembly line
This is a roundtable discussion of potential solutions to stagnant wage growth. One of the participants puts forth a universal basic income, paid monthly, as the optimal solution.
Chris Giles, Sarah O’Connor, Claire Jones and Ben McLannahan, “Pay pressure”, Financial Times, 2014 September 18
by Karl Widerquist | Sep 4, 2014 | News, The Indepentarian
The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), Alaska’s small yearly Basic Income, is likely to double this year over last year’s value. The dividend is paid every fall from the returns to the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF), a pool of financial assets accumulated from savings from the state’s oil revenue. The formula for converting returns into dividends is complex. It depends on the average returns over the previous five years and the number of Alaskan residents who apply for it. The exact figure will be released soon, and direct deposits will be delivered by early October.
A BP oil field facility in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Photo by BP via Getty Images, via Slate
Mike Burns, the executive director of Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, was quoted by the Alaska Dispatch saying, “I think the punchline is that the dividend is going to be right about doubling from last year.” The reason for the big increase in the dividend this year has to do with the five-year average used to calculate dividends. The enormous downturn of the 2008-2009 fiscal year have finally dropped out of the calculation. Since then the APF has had a very good run, rising to a total value of $53 billion—an all time record—and its assets returned more than 15% for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
Last year’s value was $900. So, a doubling would put it the PFD the neighborhood of $1,800 per person or $7,200 for a family of four. The Alaska Dispatch estimates the number will be $1,930.49, “give or take $100.” This would put the dividend near it’s all-time high of $2069, paid in 2008, at the height of the market bubble. Even the record-high amount was far below the livable income that most Basic Income supporters want to see. Yet some of the affects supporters hope to see from a larger dividend are present in Alaska. It has increase economic equality and reduced poverty, and employers have complained that workers are more likely to quit when they receive the dividend.
The APF and PFD are enormously popular in Alaska, but they are not immune to attack. Several years ago the state voted to give the notional dividends that prisoners would have received had they been allowed to apply for the dividend to the prison system. Just this year the state voted to reduce taxes on oil companies, which will ultimately mean less money going into the APF, and therefore, small dividends in the future.
For more information see:
Daniel Gross, “Alaska Is a Petrol State: But it doesn’t act like one.” Slate, August 28, 2014
Alex DeMarban and Sean Doogan, “Estimated at $1,930, Alaska PFD big but no record.” The Alaska Dispatch, August 27, 2014
Dermot Cole, “Permanent Fund principal, not oil royalties, drives most of its growth.” The Alaska Dispatch, August 15, 2014
Trilbe Wynne, “Alaska Permanent Fund tops $50 billion mark, returns 15.5% for year.” Pensions and Investments, August 11, 2014
Associated Press, “Alaska Permanent Fund tops $50B threshold.” Fairbanks News-Miner, August 8, 2014
Sean Doogan, “Size of 2014 PFD checks may double from 2013’s $900.” The Alaska Dispatch, July 30, 2014.
KTVA, “This year’s PFD checks could double the 2013 amount.” KTVA-TV, July 30, 2014
Images_of_Money photo, cc Flickr via the Alaska Dispatch
