by Kate McFarland | Jun 6, 2016 | News
The Guardian and The Independent reported on Sunday, June 5th that the British Labour Party is considering endorsing a universal basic income.
John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, is among the Labour Party politicians who have taken an interest in the idea. As quoted in The Guardian, McDonnell believes that recent research on UBI “makes an interesting case for a universal and unconditional payment to all, which could prepare our country for any revolution in jobs and technology to come – it is an idea Labour will be closely looking at over the next few years.”
On Monday, June 6th, he will be attending at meeting at the House of Commons to discuss a research report recently prepared by Compass, a leftwing think tank that describes itself as a “pressure group for a Good Society.”
Compass’s new report urges policymakers in the UK to investigate and trial a universal basic income, and compares two potential schemes — a full UBI, which replaces most means-tested benefits, and a “modified scheme” in which under most means-tested benefits are retained. (The authors believe that the latter could provide an initial step towards the development of the former.) In both schemes, cash benefits “are paid to everyone, without condition, and cannot be withdrawn.”
In a detailed analysis, the Compass report compares the two schemes on the basis of cost, “the number and pattern of gainers and losers” (e.g. according to income level and household type), and the impacts on poverty and inequality. Additionally, the report describes options for financing a basic income, such as a social wealth fund on the lines of the Alaskan Permanent Fund.
It concludes:
With the existing income support system increasingly ill-equipped to deal with the complexity of the modern labour market, and the impact of the technological revolution coming so fast down the track, the idea of a UBI has already been gathering growing support in the UK. It is now time for a campaign to promote a much wider debate among the public and decision makers.
The report was developed by two economists and Compass Associates, Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley. Reed is the director of the economic research and consultancy group Landman Economics, which developed the tax-benefit model that was employed in the analysis of the UBI schemes. Lansley is a visiting fellow in the School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol, and the author of several books including, most recently, A Sharing Economy: How Social Wealth Funds can Reduce Inequality and Help Balance the Books.
The Chair of Compass, Neal Lawson, has also recently spoken out to members of Britain’s progressive parties, urging them form a “progressive alliance” to “usher in a post-imperial foreign policy, introduce a basic income, end austerity and renew the social fabric of our lives.”
Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley, “Universal Basic Income: An idea whose time has come?” Compass, June 2016.
Neal Lawson, “An open letter to the SNP – it’s time to join political forces with Labour,” Commonspace, May 31, 2016.
Heather Stewart, “John McDonnell: Labour taking a close look at universal basic income,” The Guardian, June 5, 2016.
Ashley Cowburn “Labour considering backing universal basic income as official party policy,” The Independent, June 5, 2016.
Photo of John McDonnell MP CC Owen Jones, Wikimedia Commons
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by Josh Martin | Jun 4, 2016 | News
Tarnoff’s article argues that Silicon Valley’s interest in the basic income idea is driven by an intention to appease the public with a basic income while they reap large profits as the wealthy few who own the means of production in a world of technological unemployment. He finds the technological unemployment argument overstated and a way to establish a meritocratic view of successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
Ben Tarnoff, “Tech billionaires got rich off us. Now they want to feed us the crumbs“, The Guardian, 16 May 2016.
by Albert Joerimann | May 31, 2016 | News
When Namibia’s president Hage Geingob appointed Bishop Zephania Kameeta as minister of poverty eradication and social welfare last year, the Basic Income activists saw this as a step towards the introduction of a nationwide Basic Income Grant (BIG). President Geingob was considered to be amongst the supporters of a BIG within the ruling SWAPO party, while Bishop Kameeta was the chairperson of Namibia’s BIG Coalition and an initiator of the BIG pilot project in Otjivero. At the beginning of April 2016, the president presented his state of the nation address as well as the “Harambee Prosperity Plan”, which focused on combating poverty by the creation of jobs through economic growth. There was no mention of a systematic redistribution of the existing wealth, even though Namibia has among the greatest income inequality of all countries, with a Gini index of about 60. The only specific anti-poverty measures mentioned by Namibia’s president have been the establishment of a “food bank” to benefit of the urban poor and a promise to provide jobless youth with grants, provided that they contribute to the activities of the food bank, identify beneficiaries, help to keep the streets clean and assist with “community policing”.
The ministry of poverty eradication is expected to present its own specific measures in the next few weeks, but it is doubtful that the introduction of a national BIG will happen in the near future. This is a serious setback for the hopes that have risen since the appointment of Bishop Kameeta. This is particularly disappointing since Namibia’s pilot project in Otjivero had not only shown how effective a BIG could be but also inspired people in Kenya to launch another big BIG pilot project in their country. This should have encouraged the Namibian government to implement the BIG on a national scale.
More information at:
Language: German
Von Herbert Jauch, “Food bank statt Grundeinkommen [A food bank instead of basic income]”, Junge Welt, April 13th, 2016
by Kate McFarland | May 29, 2016 | News
Dr. James Mulvale, Dean and Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, believes that basic income is an idea whose time has come — as he articulates in a TEDx talk held at the University of Manitoba in April 2016.
The abstract for the talk summarizes, “By providing an economic floor for everyone in Canada, basic or guaranteed income would simplify and streamline our income security system, lower rates of poverty and inequality, and would enable us to advance environmental sustainability in the context of a steady state economy.”
Watch the full lecture on YouTube here.
Dr. Mulvale also recently participated in a debate on a basic income for Canadians and co-chaired the planning committee for the 2016 North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress, which took place at the University of Manitoba from May 11-14.
Image: University of Manitoba (from Wikimedia Commons)
by Kate McFarland | May 28, 2016 | News
Computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee — best known for his founding of the World Wide Web in 1989 — was awarded this year’s Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize for “exceptional and inter-disciplinary talents in the spirit of John Maynard Keynes’ work, life and legacy.” If you’re wanting to add webpages to the billions that are already floating about on the World Wide Web, even if you have no knowledge in how to do so, you could get your site set up by following guides provided by Site Beginner or somewhere similar.
Partially in recognition of this achievement, Berners-Lee was interviewed by The Economist in a recent podcast, where he was presented with a question from a member of the Keynes family, The Economist economics correspondent Soumaya Keynes.
Soumaya’s question: “Are you among the group of technologists who favor a basic income?”
While acknowledging the that issue is complicated, Berners-Lee was clearly sympathetic to the idea — emphasizing the relative simplicity and efficiency of basic income (which he described as a “smooth system”), and expressing agreement that a basic income could help to reduce technologically-driven inequality.
Listen to the podcast here (discussion of basic income begins at around 10:30):
Tom Standage (interviewer). “The Economist asks: Can the open web survive?” The Economist. May 27, 2016.
Image Source: By John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, via Wikimedia Commons
