by Vito Laterza | Dec 15, 2015 | News
A debate on universal basic income will be hosted on December 17, 2015 by the London-based RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; also known as the Royal Society of Arts).
EVENT: The Case for a Universal Basic Income.
TIME & DATE: Starts at 1pm (UK time), Thursday, December 17, 2015.
VENUE: Durham Street Auditorium, RSA House, London, United Kingdom.
SPEAKERS:
Anthony Painter, RSA director of policy and strategy;
Frances Coppola, writer and commentator on banking, finance and economics;
Tom Clark, writer and editor for the Guardian;
Ben Southwood, head of research, Adam Smith Institute.
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
In the last year, discussion about the possibility and desirability of a basic income – a weekly payment for every citizen – has become more audible.
From Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to Mayors in Canada and the Netherlands to campaigners in Switzerland and leading thinkers such as Thomas Piketty, winner of the FT book of the year Martin Ford, and anti-poverty sage Tony Atkinson, the idea has been gathering interest.
In recent days, news that the Finnish government is committing to one of the boldest universal income experiments thus far, has generated an intense fresh round of commentary and debate.
The RSA has been undertaking research into the idea for the past year and at this event Anthony Painter, the RSA’s Director of Policy and Strategy, will present our latest thinking.
Is it feasible? Should we do it? Join the debate.
MORE INFORMATION: +44 (0)20 7451 6868; rsa.events@rsa.org.uk; see also the event page here.
BOOKINGS: Click here to book online.
LISTEN LIVE here beginning 1pm on December 17, 2015.
by Vito Laterza | Dec 14, 2015 | News
On December 8, Huffington Post Live hosted a debate on basic income following the coverage by mainstream news of the Finnish basic income experiment.
There were three guest speakers:
Guy Standing, BIEN’s Honorary President.
Guy Standing, economist, professor of development studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (London), and BIEN’s Honorary President;
Karl Widerquist, political philosopher and economist, associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, co-chair of BIEN, and co-founder of US Basic Income Guarantee;
Daniel Tencer, business editor of the Huffington Post Canada.
In a broad-ranging discussion, the speakers argued that basic income is both feasible and desirable. Karl Widerquist began the conversation by clarifying that a basic income is given to all citizens and does not depend on means-testing or a work requirement. In other words, it is universal and unconditional.
Karl Widerquist, BIEN’s co-chair.
The speakers also stressed that a basic income reduces inequalities and eliminates poverty. Daniel Tencer noted that Huffington Post Canada has been writing about basic income for some time. He positively reported on the recent rediscovery of the encouraging results of a five-year experiment with basic income in the town of Dauphin, Manitoba during the 1970s.
Another topic of discussion was the relationship between basic income and other welfare benefits. Referring to the Finnish experiment, Guy Standing said that, while basic income is usually discussed in the context of wide-ranging welfare reform, it does not have to replace all existing benefits at once. It can be implemented gradually, while keeping certain needs-based benefits such as disability grants.
When queried about the standard criticism that a basic income is not affordable, Standing and Widerquist remarked that, in fact, it is affordable, and could be financed in a number of ways, from various forms of taxation to currency reform.
Click here to watch the 15-minute video of the debate.
by Vito Laterza | Dec 5, 2015 | News
The 16th Basic Income Earth Network Congress will take place in Seoul, South Korea, from July 7-9, 2016. The overarching theme is “Social and Ecological Transformation and the Basic Income”. Activists, politicians and academics from across the world will gather to discuss the current realities and possible futures of basic income, in the context of ongoing global economic and ecological crises.
The Congress will be hosted by Sogang University and will coincide with Korean Basic Income Week, from July 4-10, when concerts, film screenings, performances and campaigns will take place across the country.
Eight keynote speakers have been confirmed at the time of writing: Louise Haagh (York University, England), Toru Yamamori (Doshisha University, Japan), Jan Otto Andersson (Åbo Akademi University, Finland), Sarath Davala (India), Zephania Kameeta (Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Namibia), Zhiyuan Cui (Tsinghua University, China), Gonzalo Hernández Licona (CONEVAL, Mexico) and Evelyn L. Forget (University of Manitoba, Canada). Click here for more information on the speakers.
A call for papers and proposals has been issued by the conference organizers. Interested people can make submissions until January 31, 2016. You can read the full call for papers and proposals here, including instructions on how to submit. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Economic models after neoliberalism, and the position and role of basic income in them;
- The role of basic income in the expansion of democracy in the political arena and in society as a whole;
- The role of basic income in the transition to an ecological society and related cultural issues;
- The role of basic income in moving away from a work-based society and contributing to the de-commodification of the labor force;
- The precariat and basic income;
- The role of basic income in enhancing gender equality;
- Basic income as a tool to tackle youth unemployment;
- Evaluation and prospects of various pilot projects;
- Post-human prospects and basic income.
For all other details, visit the Congress’ website, which is also available in Korean.
by Will Wachtmeister | Nov 30, 2015 | News
Members of parliament from the Pirate Party have submitted a legislative proposal calling for the introduction of an unconditional income in Iceland, reports The Reykjavik Grapevine news site.
The Icelandic UBI Proposal (fragment). From: https://www.althingi.is/altext/145/s/0454.html
The proposal is for the Ministry of Welfare to form a working group together with the Ministry of Finance and pave the way for a UBI that will “strengthen people’s economic and social rights and eliminate poverty.”
The 3000 word proposal cites several basic income schemes as evidence, including Canada’s MINCOME initiative in the 1970s.
Paul Fontaine, “Pirates Submit Proposal For Universal Basic Income In Iceland.” The Reykjavik Grapevine, 18 November 2015
by Tyler Prochazka | Nov 21, 2015 | News
The most common criticisms of a universal basic income (UBI) are that it is unfeasible and too expensive. However, in a recent series on UBI in the Washington Post, some of the strongest attacks dealt with the possibility that it may undermine civil society in the United States.
Jonathan Coppage, associate editor of The American Conservative magazine, argues that a UBI provides the freedom to “no longer be needed” by the marketplace, where many societal bonds are formed. A UBI would remove these ties, Coppage said.
In India, a UBI trial demonstrated instead that a UBI has the potential to increase entrepreneurial and economic activity. Also, unlike the current entitlement system, UBI benefits do not diminish as income rises, so replacing current social services with a UBI can actually encourage individuals to enter the marketplace.
A cautionary tale does emerge from rentier states in the Middle East. Rentier states, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, use oil revenue to provide their citizens with lavish social services in order to buy loyalty to the government. Some argue that this environment has contributed to the underdevelopment of rentier states’ civil societies, while others dispute this theory.
Nonetheless, the lessons from rentier states cannot properly be applied to implementing a UBI in the United States. There are far too many cultural and institutional differences (such as the repressive politics of many rentier states) to make these countries a useful case study.
In Alaska, the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) provides a more accurate illustration of how a UBI would affect civil society in America. The PFD provides an annual payment from the state’s oil revenues to each citizen of Alaska. It is arguably the closest program to a full UBI in the world.
One of the best measures of the strength of civil society is the level of volunteerism, as it indicates how invested individuals are in the betterment of their communities. Alaska is ranked as having the tenth highest volunteer participation as a percentage of the population in the United States. Additionally, from 1989 to 2006, Alaska’s volunteer rate increased by 10 percent.
Many have made the case that a UBI would increase support for civil society as it would allow individuals to shift some of their time to civic engagement. Although more in-depth statistical analysis would be needed to demonstrate that Alaska’s high volunteerism rate is a partial result of the PFD, it is easy to see why it may be the case; the financial freedom resulting from a UBI allows people to dedicate more time to activities that truly benefit them and their community.
At the very least, the experience in Alaska shows us that a universal basic income in the United States would not be the death of civil society. In fact, it could be the very stimulus civil society needs to thrive.
A debate on universal basic income will be hosted on December 17, 2015 by the London-based RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; also known as the Royal Society of Arts).
