by Yannick Vanderborght | Nov 3, 2010 | News
Four years ago the former Governor of the Free State of Thuringia, Christian-Democrat Dieter Althaus, proposed his concept of Solidarisches Bürgergeld (solidary citizen’s income). The concept is based on an individual and unconditional basic income of EUR 600 per month for every citizen aged 14 or more (and EUR 300 per child paid to the parents), coupled with a basic health insurance voucher of EUR 200 per person, and funded by an income tax of 50% from the first Euro earned (but falling to 25% for higher income slices). This citizen’s income would be administered under the form of a negative income tax. Althaus has set up a commission to evaluate the solidarity citizen’s income:
https://www.insa-online.de/aktuelles/aktuelles.php
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 12, 2010 | News
The National Union for Namibian Workers (NUNW) announced in early July that it would withdraw from the Basic Income Grant Coalition. The Union’s Secretary General said that NUNW did not see income distribution, as per the BIG model, as a viable way to address poverty in the country. Many editorials followed with renewed support for BIG. For example, the Windhoek Observer, a Namibian Weekly, devoted a recent editorial to the current BIG debate in Namibia. It compares President Pohamba’s remarks that BIG would encourage laziness to the famous apocryphal saying of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake.” Evidence from the recent BIG pilot project in Namibia is consistent with the contrary hypothesis that in places with deep poverty, cash grants stimulate people to work more by relieving them from the immediate needs that often keep them from engaging in productive activity.
Links to recent articles about BIG in Namibia are below.
“NUNW withdraws from BIG Coalition,” Richard Swartbooi, Namibian Broadcasting Company:
https://www.nbc.com.na/article.php?id=2404
“Let them Eat Cake,” Editorial, The Windhoek Observer:
https://basisinkomen.nl/wp/buitenlands-nieuws/president-namibia-laat-ze-maar-cake-eten/
“The NUNW and the Basic Income Grant,” Herbert Jauch, the Namibian:
https://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2010/july/article/labour-in-crisis-the-nunw-and-the-basic-income-grant/
“BIG: Time to separate fact from fiction,” by Lucy Edwards, May 28, New Era Online, 2010:
https://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=11177
“Namibia: Social justice and solidarity – think ‘BIG,’” Henning Melber, Pambazuka News, Issue 485, June 10, 2010:
https://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/65081
“Academic justifies BIG,” Irene !Hoaës, New Era Online, June 4, 2010:
https://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=11293
by Karl Widerquist | Aug 12, 2010 | News
The Irish Liberal Party is a small, new political party in the Republic of Ireland. According to the party’s website. “The party stands for the principles of individual freedom, respect for human rights, the rule of law, equality of opportunity, free and fair elections and multiparty-democracy, social justice, tolerance, free market economy, free trade, environmental sustainability and a strong sense of international solidarity.” Also according to the party’s website, “Our most important policies are our Social Justice policies of basic income for all and the introduction of the Land Valuation Tax.” The website’s elaboration of its basic income provision uses BIEN’s definition of basic income and includes a link to the BIEN website.
The party’s website is: irishliberalparty.org
The party’s endorsement of BIG is at the following page: https://irishliberalparty.org/page_1277298297057.html
