by USBIG | Dec 19, 2014 | News
The U.S. Basic Income Guarantee (USIBG) Network has released a list of forty participants for the Fourteenth Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress (a joint even of USBIG and the Basic Income Canada Network). The Congress will take place in New York City starting Thursday, February 26 – Sunday March 1, 2015. Most events will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA) at the New York Sheraton Hotel and Towers. The Congress will also involve free events including a public discussion at the Hunter School of Social Work on Thursday, February 26 and an activists meeting at the Brooklyn Commons on Sunday March 1.
Conference participants include:
- Alanna Hartzok, the Earth Rights institute, 2014 Democratic Nominee for Cognress
- Ann Withorn, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston, author of Serving the People: Social Services and Social Change
- Ashley Engel, University College Dublin
- Bill DiFazio, St. John’s University
- Brigid Reynolds, Social Justice Ireland
- Diane Dujon, University of Massachusetts Boston
- Diane Pagen, Rutgers University School of Social Work
- Eduardo Suplicy, former member of the Brazilian Federal Senate
- Eri Noguchi, the Association to Benefit Children
- Felix Coeln, the German Pirate Party
- Frances Fox Piven, the City University of New York
- Frederick H. (Harry) Pitts, University of Bath
- Ian Shlakman, 2014 Green Party Nominee for Congress
- James Green-Armytage, Bard College
- James Jennings, Tufts University
- Jim Bryan, Ryan/Bacardi Professor of Economics, Manhattanville College
- Jim Mulvale, Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba
- Jonathan Brun, Basic Income Canada Network
- Jude Thomas, Freelance writer
- Jurgen De Wispelaere, McGill University
- Karl Widerquist, SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University
- Marshall Brain, author of How Stuff Works and Manna
- Mary Bricker Jenkins, Professor of Social Work, Temple University, and US Welfare Rights Union leader
- Michael Lewis, Hunter School of Social Work
- Michael Howard, University of Maine
- Michaelann Berwitz, activist
- Mimi Abramovitz, Hunter College
- Oliver Heydorn, The Clifford Hugh Douglas Institute for the Study and Promotion of Social Credit
- Paul B. Siegel, the World Bank
- Peter Barnes, author of Who Owns the Sky?, With Liberty and Dividends For All, and Capitalism 3.0
- Preston Smith, activist
- Roy Morrison, Greater Boston Capital Partners
- Seán Healy, Social Justice Ireland
- Sid Frankel, University of Manitoba
- Stanley Aranowitz, the City University of New York
- Steve Pressman, Monmouth College
- Suezanne Bruce, activist
- Valerie J. Carter, University of Maine
- Willie Baptist, the Poverty Initiative
Calendar:
Thursday, February 26, 2015
7pm to 9pm: Public Discussion: “New Possibilities for the Basic Income Movement”
Hunter College, room to be announced
Friday, February 27, 2015
8am to 7pm: Sessions at the Sheraton Hotel, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY
Evening: social event to be announced
Saturday, February 28, 2015
8am to 6:30pm: Sessions at the Sheraton Hotel, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY
Evening: social event to be announced
Sunday, March 1, 2015
8am to 12:30pm: Sessions at the Sheraton Hotel, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY
12:45-m-2:15: Lunch meeting: organizational meeting of the USBIG Network
6:30pm: Activists Meeting: “Are we ready to start an activists movement for BIG in the United States?” We’ll chip in for pizza and drinks, but we’ll share the food and drink unconditionally with everyone who comes—without means test or any requirement to make a reciprocal contribution. We will discuss this question without any more specific agenda. Karl Widerquist will moderate the discussion, but will not lead the discussion or any effort that might come out of it. Location: Brooklyn Commons, 388 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn, NY
The Brooklyn Commons
Everyone attending the events at the Sheraton must register with the EEA and pay their registration fee (all events outside the Sheraton are free and open to everyone). Anyone who registers as a USBIG participant can register for the EEA members’ price of $110 without paying the EEA’s membership fee—saving $65. All registered attendees of the NABIG Congress are welcome to attend any of the EEA’s events.
For updated information on featured speakers, registration, and accommodations as more becomes available, visit the USBIG website: www.usbig.net. For more information about the Eastern Economics Association Annual Meeting, visit the EEA website: https://www.quinnipiac.edu/eea/41st-annual-conference/.
Essential information:
Conference dates: Thursday, February 26 – Sunday, March 1, 2015
Locations: New York and Brooklyn, NY: The Sheraton Hotel and Towers, 811 7th Avenue, New York, NY, Hunter College, and the Brooklyn Commons
Organizing committee: Karl Widerquist <Karl@Widerquist.com> (organizer), Ann Withorn <withorn.ann@gmail.com>, Shawn Cassiman <scassiman1@udayton.edu>, and Jurgen De Wispelaere <jurgen.dewispelaere@gmail.com>
Website: USBIG.net.
The Brooklyn Commons
by Liam Upton | Dec 15, 2014 | News
The momentum behind Basic Income has been gaining ground for some time now, with more and more media attention including articles in publications such as The Economist and the Washington Post and a community on reddit that just passed 20,000 subscribers and is still growing. That’s not to mention the huge amount of signatures collected for the European Citizen’s Initiative and the successful campaign for a Basic Income referendum in Switzerland.
But in the last few months, the momentum among political parties and leaders, which will be the focus of this article, has also picked up. The Green Party worldwide has of course had Basic Income on its policy agenda for quite some time, but in February of this year, the general conference of the Liberal Party in Canada approved two motions in favour of Basic Income, one in favour of a federal pilot programme and one in favour of implementation. Though good news, the leader of the LPC, Justin Trudeau, has yet to mention the policy and the party have not campaigned on the issue in by-elections which took place this year. They are however leading in current opinion polls, but not by enough to achieve a majority government.
Robert Ghiz of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party
This is after the premier of Prince Edward Island province, Robert Ghiz of the Liberal party, called for a pilot programme for a Guaranteed Minimum Income, a form of Negative Income Tax and the leader of provincial opposition party, the NDP called for the similar Basic Income Guarantee. The Liberal Party and NDP came first and second respectively in a recent opinion poll in the province.
Meanwhile in Québec province, the minister for Employment and Social Solidarity in the recently elected Liberal provincial government, François Blais is a supporter of Basic Income, calling it the ‘way of the future’, though his government does not have any plans to introduce the policy.
Moving on from Canada, in Spain as a reaction to dissatisfaction with regular politics, a new party called Podemos was formed this year, considered by many to represent the ‘Indignados’ mass protest movement which sprang up in 2011. This party has called for Basic Income as one of its platforms. An opinion poll in September placed Podemos as the most popular party in Spain for the first time. With elections due in less than a year, there is a real possibility they will be elected as the largest party. Unfortunately, the party left Basic Income out of it’s first economic document published recently, though there is still the chance that they will once again pick up the Basic Income idea before the general election.
But that is not the end of political moves towards Basic Income. In the Netherlands, at their party conference, opposition party D66, approved a policy to conduct a Basic Income pilot programme if elected into office. In response to the increased discussion about Basic Income, the Prime Minister from the VVD party came out opposing the policy. D66 is currently the second or third most popular party in the Netherlands according to the most recent opinion polls, with an election due no later than 2017.
The D66 conference where a proposal for a Basic Income pilot project was adopted
In Finland, during a debate in parliament led by the Centre Party and Left Alliance, the Centre Party leader also called for Basic Income pilots. The Left Alliance and Green League parties in Finland already had Basic Income as part of their platforms. In the debate, a number of MPs expressed support for Basic Income pilots, including the current Prime Minister, Alexander Stubb. The Centre Party is currently the most popular party in opinion polls, with an election due next year.
And in New Zealand, the recently elected leader of the Labour party and new leader of the opposition, Andrew Little has come out in favour of a Universal Basic Income, saying in a radio interview that he would like this to be a focus of policy for the party. Little has a difficult task ahead of him however, Labour in New Zealand have lost the previous four elections, losing vote share on each occasion.
The policies discussed by nearly all of these parties and politicians is Universal Basic Income. While a Negative Income Tax was almost passed in the USA by the Nixon administration, there has never been such a level of support for its sister policy Universal Basic Income, with parties who support either pilot programmes or implementation ahead in the polls in three different countries with the furthest election being just over 2 years away. For the first time in decades, a Basic Income which would end poverty and guarantee true freedom and dignity for all has made real progress in the political arena.
For more information, see:
Liberal Party of Canada, “97. Basic Income Supplement: Testing a Dignified Approach to Income Security for Working-age Canadians“, Liberal Party of Canada, February 23 2014
Liberal Party of Canada, “100. Priority Resolution: Creating a Basic Annual Income to be Designed and Implemented for a Fair Economy“, Liberal Party of Canada, February 23 2014
CBC News, “Guaranteed livable income plan possible, Ghiz confirms”, CBC News, April 04, 2014
NDP Prince Edward Island, “Basic Income Guarantee should go to Committee, NDP Prince Edward Island, May 06 2014
Yannick Vanderborght, “QUEBEC, CANADA: Minister of Employment for the provincial government reiterates his support for basic income”, Basic Income News, July 17 2014
Language: Spanish
Podemos, “Documento Final del Programa Colectivo [Final Document of the Collective Program]”, Podemos, May 27 2014
Language: Dutch
Jelmer Luimstra, “D66 pleit voor nieuw onderzoek naar een basisinkomen [D66 calls for new research into Basic Income]”, de Volksrant, November 4 2014
Johanna Perkiö, “Finland: the opposition leader proposes basic income pilots“, Basic Income News, October 9 2014
Radio New Zealand, “What policy changes will Andrew Little usher in?”, Radio New Zealand, November 19 2014
by Liam Upton | Nov 30, 2014 | News
Podemos, the Spanish party which stormed into first place in recent opinion polls and who previously declared support for a Universal Basic Income, have left the propsal out of a recent document outlining their economic plans.
The leader of Podemos Pablo Iglesias presents his economic proposal -Demotix
The party, which only launched earlier this year, gained prominence with a number of radical proposals including reducing the retirement age to 60 and nationalising all utility companies. Their economic document, released Thursday, was seen as a test for the party, whether or not it could formulate a coherent set of policies. Despite the radical tone of initial party statements, some of the more radical policies were left off the document, including Basic Income.
This is a blow to the Basic Income movement, with Podemos previously looking set to become the first party supporting Basic Income to win an election in Europe, an election which is due in Spain before the end of 2015. However, it doesn’t mean the party has stopped supporting the proposal, merely that it has not been placed on this document, which is not a full manifesto. They mentioned at the press conference to launch the document that they wanted it based on ‘realistic proposals’. The party also wants to ensure that the document is available to all members and allows access to the public to read. They have stated that they will try to use ‘Filecenter to scan my docs‘ or similar services to ensure that it is open to public access, as accessibility to the public is important.
Basic Income has been gaining ground politically in the last year, despite this setback there are still a number of parties supporting Basic Income or pilot programmes which have considerable support in other parts of the world, including Canada, Finalnd and New Zealand.
The leader of Podemos Pablo Iglesias presents his economic proposal -Demotix
For more information, see:
Language: Spanish: Vicenç Navarro, Juan Torres “Un Proyecto Económico para La Gente [An Economic Project for the People]“, Podemos, 27 November 2014
Matthew Bennet, “A Look At The New Podemos Economic Document“, The Spain Report, 28 November 2014
Hugo Ortuño, “The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias presents his economic proposal“, Demotix, 27 November 2014
by Karl Widerquist | Nov 8, 2014 | News
Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
The deadline for the Fourteenth Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress has been extended to November 17, 2014. The Congress will take place in New York City starting Thursday, February 26 – Sunday March 1, 2015. The congress is organized by the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in cooperation with the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN/RCRG). It will be held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA). It will also include free event(s) to be held at other venues and announced later.
Featured speakers at the conference confirmed so far include Marshall Brain, futurist and author of How Stuff Works and Manna; Peter Barnes, environmentalist and author of Who Owns the Sky?, With Liberty and Dividends For All, and Capitalism 3.0; Ann Withorn, welfare rights activist and Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston, author of Serving the People: Social Services and Social Change and co-editor of For Crying out Loud: Women and Poverty in the U.S.; Jim Mulvale, Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba and Vice-Chairperson of the Basic Income Canadian Network (BICN/RCRG), and Mary Bricker Jenkins, Professor of Social Work, Temple University, and US Welfare Rights Union leaders.
Everyone attending the events (except for the two free events) at the EEA Conference must register with the EEA and pay their registration fee. If you register as a USBIG participant, you can register for the EEA members’ price of $110 without paying the EEA’s membership fee—saving $65. All registered attendees of the North American Basic Income Congress are welcome to attend any of the EEA’s events. Participants attending only the free event(s) need not register. Details of those events will be announced later.
All points of view are welcome. To present a paper, to organize a workshop, or lead a dialogue at the congress, submit a proposal to the congress organizer, Karl Widerquist of USBIG, at Karl@widerquist.com.
Please include the following information with your proposal:
1. Name(s)
2. Affiliation(s)
3. Address
4. City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, and Country
5. Telephone
6. Email Address(es)
7. Title of Paper, Presentation, or Panel
8. Abstract or description of the presentation or workshop (50-150 words)
9. Indicate your availability for the free events, the paid events, or both.
Panels: Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description of the panel and the names and contact information for each participant. For dialogues, only one or two moderators need to be listed.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: November 17th, 2014
For more information on featured speakers, registration, and accommodations as it becomes available, visit the USBIG website: www.usbig.net. For more information about the Eastern Economics Association Annual Meeting, visit the EEA website: https://www.quinnipiac.edu/eea/41st-annual-conference/.
Conference dates: Thursday, February 26 – Sunday, March 1, 2015
The deadline for participant submissions: November 17, 2014
Location: New York, NY
Organizing committee: Karl Widerquist <Karl@Widerquist.com> (organizer), Ann Withorn <withorn.ann@gmail.com>, Shawn Cassiman <scassiman1@udayton.edu>, and Jurgen De Wispelaere <jurgen.dewispelaere@gmail.com>
Website: USBIG.net.
by Harry Pitts | Oct 18, 2014 | Research
In this article Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party of Canada, suggests the ‘implementation of a universal Guaranteed Livable Income. She argues that such a measure ‘would provide the means for every Canadian to avoid poverty. It would save the health care system, the criminal justice system, and a whole raft of other social programs from spending their valuable resources on issues whose root cause is poverty. It could easily be paid for by a modest carbon tax. It would make our economy stronger and our society more just. A GLI paid for by a carbon tax would help to bridge any perceived gap between the fights for social, labour, economic, and environmental justice. It would also help minimize the disproportionate carbon footprint of the wealthy while allowing the less wealthy the freedom to find good work, without being forced to take any job that will employ them. It would hopefully spur real change in the intertwined fights for a livable climate and a just society.’
The full article is available here:
Elizabeth May, “A $15 minimum wage will not solv
e inequality — but it’ll help”, Rabble, 3rd October 2014
