by Malcolm Torry | Jul 29, 2020 | Opinion
The Canadian Sayout newsletter has printed an article about Basic Income:
… At present government is paying out vast sums of money. In effect, we have a new and large-scale experiment by government in directly providing people with incomes. This gives us some indication
of how a guaranteed income plan could work. Such a plan would be universal. And, as is now being demonstrated, it actually can be done.
A guaranteed, universal, and livable income programme would be transformative for our society. It would directly address income inequality. It would diminish and possibly eliminate poverty once and for all. …
The author, Robyn Peterson, has clarified his use of terms in the article:
a proper BI should be unconditional with the same amount being paid to every citizen or legal resident. This would avoid the somewhat cumbersome issue of establishing who should benefit and by how much, with a progressive income tax system evening things out.
by Lewis Small | Jul 15, 2020 | French
Par Lewis Small, 1er Juillet 2020
Traduction par Christine Cayré
Fraichement composé, le gouvernement de la 33ème chambre basse du parlement irlandais s’est engagé à expérimenter le Revenu de Base en Irlande pendant les cinq prochaines années. L’annonce a été faite dans le Programme de Gouvernement porté par les partis Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil et le Parti Vert. Le document énumère une longue liste d’actions que le gouvernement veut mettre en œuvre, dont l’engagement à inclure le Revenu de Base, au titre des « Mesures de lutte contre la pauvreté et pour l’inclusion sociale » –cf page 86 du document-.
[Nous allons] demander à la Commission des bas salaires d’examiner le Revenu Universel de Base, sur la base d’une étude préalable de la synthèse des expériences menées dans d’autres pays et ce pour permettre une expérimentation pendant que ce gouvernement actuel sera en fonction.
Si le plan est mené à bien, l’Irlande grossira les rangs des pays qui ont commencé à élaborer des plans concrets pour créer telle ou telle forme de Revenu de Base. Toutefois des questions ont été soulevées sur la fermeté des engagements pris et sur la manière dont ils seront concrètement déployés.
Anne Ryan, Coordinatrice associée du Revenu de Base en Irlande- l’instance nationale de promotion du Revenu de Base- a commenté :
Nous aimerions voir cette annonce comme une composante d’un engagement à mettre en œuvre un revenu de base permanent pour tous dans les cinq prochaines années.
Des expérimentations et des projets pilotes ont déjà été réalisés en Europe et dans le monde et tous ont fait la preuve de leurs effets positifs. Le choix de repartir dans un mode expérimental en Irlande pourrait ne pas être la meilleure solution, ni la meilleure utilisation du temps et des financements, étant donné qu’il est déjà avéré que le revenu de base est un élément essentiel et structurant d’une société du prendre soin et d’une économie sensée, piliers d’inclusion et d’égalité.
D’autres préoccupations ont été exprimées au sujet de la décision de nommer la Commission des Bas Salaires en tant que garante des engagements, et du risque que des affrontements politiques internes pourraient faire courir sur les expérimentations envisagées.
En réponse à une première proposition du Programme de Gouvernement, le groupe de réflexion Justice Sociale en Irlande a déclaré :
Le Programme de Gouvernement prévoit de confier à la Commission des Bas Salaires (Low Pay Commission : LPC) l’examen du Revenu Universel de Base. Les questions relatives à la définition du plancher minimum en dessous duquel le niveau de vie de ses citoyens ne devrait pas glisser vont bien au-delà des attributions du LPC. La Commission du bien-être social et de la fiscalité serait un interlocuteur bien plus approprié sur ce sujet (p. 3).
Toute décision de déplacer l’examen du Revenu de Base vers un autre organe nécessiterait un consensus entre les trois partis, et bien que Fianna Fáil et le Parti vert aient précédemment affirmé leur soutien au Revenu de Base, Fine Gael en a systématiquement rejeté l’idée.
Le Dr Seán Healy, PDG de Social Justice en Irlande – qui promeut le Revenu de Base en Irlande depuis 35 ans – a ajouté:
Il faut veiller à ce que cette initiative ne soit pas abandonnée en raison de l’opposition d’un seul parti politique, alors qu’une majorité du gouvernement est prête à lui donner toutes ses chances. En 2002, le Gouvernement irlandais a publié un livre vert sur le Revenu de Base qui était relativement positif – il est impératif que nous ne répétions pas les erreurs du passé pour que cette proposition soit examinée de manière équitable.
La manière dont les engagements du Programme de Gouvernement vont se matérialiser dépend beaucoup de l’examen des propositions et de la forme que prendra l’expérimentation. L’accent doit être mis sur la garantie que tout se déroule dans un esprit positif, sous la houlette de personnes qui ont un intérêt sincère à faire advenir le Revenu de Base.
On peut lire l’article en anglais ici.
by Malcolm Torry | Jul 6, 2020 | News
The Guardian newspaper reports that the UK Treasury is considering sending vouchers to everyone to spend on a range of goods. This would not be a Basic Income, but it shares some of its characteristics and would be an interesting experiment to watch.
Radical plans to give all adults £500 and children £250 in vouchers to spend in sectors of the economy worst hit by the Covid-19 crisis are being considered by the Treasury.
The proposals, drawn up by the Resolution Foundation thinktank, which has had recent talks with the Treasury about its ideas, are aimed at kickstarting economic recovery by triggering a highly targeted surge in spending. Under the plans the vouchers could only be spent in certain sectors, such as hospitality and “face to face” retail, as opposed to online.
What is particularly interesting about the idea is that it would require the UK Government to establish the kind of database that would be required for the payment for a Basic Income.
by Malcolm Torry | Jul 2, 2020 | News
Rachel Sandler has written an article for the Forbes website about an increasing number of US cities planning to establish Basic Income pilot projects.
The mayors of Los Angeles; Oakland, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Tacoma, Washington, Newark, New Jersey; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Jackson, Mississippi; Compton, California; Shreveport, Louisiana and Stockton, California, have joined Mayors For A Guaranteed Income, a coalition advocating for UBI policies, or the idea of giving out recurring cash payments to all individuals without any strings attached.
Readers of the article might wish to be aware that some of the terminology used in the article is somewhat indeterminate in its meaning. According to BIEN’s definition, a Basic Income is ‘a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement’. The article sometimes uses the term ‘guaranteed income’, which can mean either a Basic Income or a means-tested benefit: and it is not always clear which is meant. Readers might also wish to be aware that the experiments in Canada and the Netherlands are testing income-tested benefits, and so are not Basic Income pilot projects according to BIEN’s definition of Basic Income.
by Thiago Santos Rocha | Jun 29, 2020 | News
The original article in Portuguese can be found here.
Eduardo Galeano said, mentioning the words of Argentine filmmaker Fernando Birre, that no matter how much a person walks, he or she will never reach utopia. Precisely because of this, its value would be in encouraging the walk towards it.
Following the concept adopted by BIEN’s charter since 2016, a policy that is intended to be a UBI must have five characteristics: periodic, paid in an appropriate medium of exchange (currency), individual, unconditioned and universal. Maricá, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, decided to walk towards the UBI through solid steps.
The first one was taken through Municipal Law n. 2,448/2013, regulated by Decree n. 213/2013, which deals with the implementation of the “Bolsa Mumbuca Social Program”, a policy of cash transfer in monthly payments of 70 units of “Mumbuca”. However, it was still a program aimed only at the poorest families, with monthly family income of up to one minimum wage (R$ 1,045.00; US$ 200.00, in current values), to which it imposed some conditionalities, largely related to the education of children.
It is important to highlight that Mumbuca is a local digital currency whose name is a reference to the main river and to one of the native peoples of the city. A unit of Mumbuca is equivalent to R$ 1.00 (US$ 0.19). It cannot be converted directly into cash but can be used by means of a magnetic card in any of the registered commercial establishments, only in the municipality of Maricá. Currently, there are in Maricá more machines used for transactions with the digital currency than the similar equipment of the large card operators.
In December 2015 the second step was taken. Trough the Municipal Law n. 2,652/2015, regulated by Decree n. 125/2015, the “Bolsa Mumbuca” was replaced by the “Mumbuca Minimum Income” (MMI), which paid 85 Mumbucas per month to families who had monthly income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135.00; US$ 608.00). It followed as a program aimed at the poorest families, but now without the conditionalities imposed until then.
On the same date as the second step, the third was taken. Parallel to the MMI, the Municipal Law n. 2.641/2015, regulated by Decree n. 124/2015, created a program called “Citizen´s Basic Income” (CBI), which monthly destined 10 Mumbucas to all individuals born in Maricá and living there for at least one year, to other Brazilians living in the city for at least two years and to foreigners living there for at least five years. Although the law provided that the CBI would be granted regardless of the socioeconomic condition of the beneficiary, it also provided that such coverage would be achieved in stages, at the discretion of the Municipal Executive, prioritizing the most needy sections of the population. Thus, CBI’s implementation began targeting individuals registered with the Single Registry of the Federal Government (CadÚnico), to which can have access low-income families that have per capita family income of up to half a minimum wage (R$ 522.50; US$ 100.00) or total monthly family income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135.00; US$ 608.00).
In June of last year, through the Municipal Law n. 2.869/2019, Maricá took the fourth and most ambitious step until now, increasing the value of the CBI from 10 to 130 Mumbucas (US$ 25,00) per individual and absorbing, among other social programs, the MMI, which until then paid 85 Mumbucas per household. With this change, the benefits that until then reached 14,000 families began to serve more than 42,000 people out of a total population of 161,000 individuals, with the short-term goal of reaching the 50,000 people in the city registered in the CadÚnico. Additionally, the same law changed the minimum period of residence of national citizens in the Municipality, requiring three years regardless of where in the country they were born, keeping unchanged the period of five years for foreigners.
As an exceptional measure to contain the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of the CBI was transitionally changed from 130 to 300 Mumbucas (US$ 60.00), as of April 2020 and for a period of 3 months, according to Municipal Law n. 2,921/2020. Additionally, the year-end bonuses in the amount of 130 Mumbucas were advanced to make the April payment an amount of 430 Mumbucas per person.
Thus, the CBI of Maricá is not a temporary experiment, but a regular policy, paid in an appropriate medium of exchange, individual and unconditional. The Program has been closely monitored by the Brazilian Basic Income Network and the municipality is preparing to take the final step by 2022, which will abolish means testing and make the CBI a universal measure for all those who meet the minimum period of residence in the city.
As the character Raphael Hythloday said to the incredulous Peter Giles in Thomas More’s book, “if you had been in Utopia with me, and had seen their laws and rules (…) you would then confess that you had never seen a people so well constituted as they.” Would Maricá be near to contradicting Eduardo Galeano? Or would the Brazilian municipality be close to demonstrating, through laws and rules, that UBI is not an unreachable utopia, but a perfectly feasible social construction?
