by Tyler Prochazka | Aug 19, 2016 | News
One of the biggest objections to the universal basic income, especially from libertarians and conservatives, is that it is far too costly to implement. Among OECD countries, however, this is largely untrue.
The Economist recently unveiled a Basic Income Calculator that can illustrate how much each person could receive under a UBI by scrapping existing non-health related welfare. The United States would be able to achieve a $6,300 basic income.
To reach a $10,000 basic income, the U.S. government would need to use an additional seven percent of GDP. This would still keep the United States at welfare spending below many other OECD countries as a percentage of GDP.
Seven countries already spend more than $10,000 per person on non-health welfare and could decrease their spending under a UBI.
To see the full Economist basic income calculator, click here.
Data Team, “Daily chart: Universal basic income in the OECD”, The Economist, June 3, 2016.
by Kate McFarland | Jun 18, 2016 | News
Dr. Malcolm Torry, Director of the UK’s Citizen’s Income Trust, has written a new book on basic income, The Feasibility of Citizen’s Income, published by Palgrave Macmillan as part of the Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee series.
(Note for readers who are not familiar with Torry’s preferred terminology: Torry defines a ‘Citizen’s Income’ as “an unconditional, non-withdrawable income paid automatically to every individual as a right of citizenship” (p. vii), viz. a basic income paid to citizens.)
Torry has previously authored an extended defense of basic income in Money for Everyone: Why We Need a Citizen’s Income (published by Policy Press in 2013).
In his latest book, which draws from material presented at the 2012 and 2014 BIEN Congresses, he turns from the question of whether a citizen’s income is desirable — he maintains that it is — to the question of whether it is possible.
Recognizing that there are many components to this question, Torry assesses the feasibility of a citizen’s income along multiple dimensions:
• Financial feasibility, comprising two types. (“Is a basic income affordable?”)
• Psychological feasibility, which can be described, roughly, as the ability to secure widespread social acceptance (cf. p. 88). (“Would people buy into the idea of a basic income?”)
• Administrative feasibility. (“Would a government be able to administer a basic income program?”)
• Behavioral feasibility, defined as neither “producing perverse or counterproductive effects” nor “failing to produce key desired outcomes” (p. 143). (“Would a basic income not be that great for society?”)
• Political feasibility, or the ability to “cohere with mainstream political ideologies” (p. 167).
• Policy process feasibility, or the ability to “travel from idea to implementation” (p. 195).
The general ideas in this book are intentionally non-specific, pertaining to “any country and … any social and economic context” (p. vi), with each chapter containing a case study applying these general considerations to a particular country’s present situation (most often the UK).
Malcolm Torry (June 19, 2016) The Feasibility of Citizen’s Income, Palgrave Macmillan.
by Stanislas Jourdan | Jul 9, 2015 | News
Announcements from Finland and the Netherlands on the launch of basic income pilots are making ripples across Europe. In France, the Southern Region of Aquitaine might well be the next place where experiments are conducted to assess the viability of basic income.
Last Monday, July 6th, the regional Council based in Bordeaux voted through a motion marking the start of a process towards running basic income pilots in the region.
Despite a heated debate before the vote, the motion proposed by Green Council member Martine Alcorta was passed unanimously. In fact, several political groups opposed the motion, but decided to abstain when it came to a vote (see the video of the plenary here).
The president of the Council, Alain Rousset in particular rejected the proposal, which he believes is “against the work ethic”. But in the end he also stated he “could not oppose generosity”.
The motion was obviously supported by the Greens, but also with enthusiasm by the radical left coalition “Aquitaine Région Citoyenne” and by one right-wing member and deputy mayor of the city of Bordeaux, who explained her position to the online newspaper Rue89:
« I have always been in favour of the thinking around basic income. Many people don’t get by despite the number of benefits and social assistance schemes. We have to simplify everything: both administrative procedures for citizens and the workload for social workers.
Basic income is not an incentive not to work. On the contrary, it reveals people’s capacities once freed from pressures. We have to launch new experiments with a new spirit. We need new proposals, new models from what currently exist, and to think of a new system. »
So far, the adopted motion only commits the Council to start a call for projects to assess the feasibility of basic income pilots in the region. Under french law, such pilots could only be conducted under the direction of a voluntary department (sub-sections of regions in France), with the agreement of the government. The region would only provide financial support.
The initiator of the motion suggests that the pilots should be based on a proposal drafted last March by BIEN’s Affiliate, the French Movement for Basic Income, to reform the existing means-tested minimum income in France, the “Active Solidarity Income” (RSA). Under this proposal, the RSA would be automatically distributed with no work requirement and along with a taxation system more friendly towards part-time workers.
The current system suffers from many flaws. It is complex, discriminatory, household-based, and moreover it discourages people from pursuing paid work – or encourages them to instead pursue undeclared work – because of its threshold effects. Because of this, the RSA is neglected by the very people who need it. The take-up of RSA is only just over 50% of those eligible.
The proposal being pushed forward is certainly not a perfectly unconditional basic income, but it would constitute a solid step in that direction.
“This is a unique and unprecedented decision in France,” said Green local representative Marc Morisset. The Green Party of France has officially supported basic income since November 2013. Its members have been increasingly active in the promotion of the idea. Last February, another Green regional council member in Rhone-Alpes made a similar proposal, but unsuccessfully.
After this historic vote, the next step will be to finance a feasibility study, find a voluntary department and locate possible areas for experiment.
by Liam Upton | May 20, 2015 | News
A proposal by the EELV party in the Rhône-Alpes regional council for a feasibility study into a potential Basic Income pilot programme, has been defeated. The defeat came during the budget debate at the end of January this year.
The proposal, in the form of an amendment to the council’s 2015 budget, called for €80,000 to be set aside for a preliminary investigation into a ‘Universal Existence Income’ pilot programme in the Rhône-Alpes region.
EELV member, Olivier Keller, received a round of applause after making the proposal. During his speech he said, “Beyond clichés, it’s a matter of nothing less than giving meaning back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which links dignity, due to every one of us, to the ability to fulfill one’s needs”
The EELV are part of the governing coalition in Rhône-Alpes, where fresh regional elections are due this year.
For more information, see:
Language: French
Stanislas Jourdan, “EELV propose la mise en place d’une expérimentation de revenu d’existence en région Rhône-Alpes [EELV propose implementation of a Universal Existence Income experiment in Rhône-Alpes region]”, Mouvement Français pour un Revenu de Base, 3 February 2015
Europe Écologie Les Verts, “Budget Primitif 2015 Étude Pour Une Experimentation Du Revenu Universel D’Éxistence En Région Rhône-Alpes / Auvergne [Preliminary Budget 2015 Study for an Experiment into a Universal Existence Income in Rhône-Alpes / Auvergne Region]”, Europe Écologie Les Verts, 29 January 2015
