by Karl Widerquist | May 9, 2013 | Research
The North Wind
[Aynur Bashirova – Bi News – May 2013]
Westrick, Brian. (2013). “Basic Income Guarantee Solution for Social Welfare.” The North Wind, Thursday, Apr 11 2013
Brian Westrick, in his article published in the North Wind, argues that the social safety nets in the US are inefficient and can be replaced by a more efficient system of the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG), which will supersede the desperation to find work with desire to work. According to Wesrick, BIG would give people the incentive to work with the principle of the more you work, the more you get and eradicate extreme poverty by making sure that no one stays without income. The author concludes that BIG is not perfect, but comparing its benefits to unemployment benefits, it makes more sense overall.
Online at: https://www.thenorthwindonline.com/?p=3867309
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 27, 2013 | Research
MacLean’s, Friday, April 19, 2013
Guaranteed (Basic) Income has been featured in an article in the prominent Canadian newsmagazine Maclean’s. According to the author, “Fresh analysis of an old program shows that a guaranteed annual income kickstarts health.”
It’s online at: https://www2.macleans.ca/2013/04/19/time-to-chuck-welfare/
Steve Russell/Toronto Star
by Yannick Vanderborght | Apr 5, 2013 | Research
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Monbiot, George. “Communism, welfare state – what’s the next big idea?”
The Guardian, Monday 1 April 2013
[BIEN – April 2013]
This opinion piece in one of Britain’s leading newspapers, begins, “Most of the world’s people are decent, honest and kind. Most of those who dominate us are inveterate bastards. It decries most recent British policy toward the poor as punitive, “brutal,” and “antisocial.” Looking for new solutions it considers both a land tax and basic income. According to Monboit, basic income “banishes the fear and insecurity now stalking the poorer half of the population. Economic survival becomes a right, not a privilege. … The poor are not forced by desperation into the arms of unscrupulous employers: people will work if conditions are good and pay fair, but will refuse to be treated like mules. It redresses the wild imbalance in bargaining power that the current system exacerbates. It could do more than any other measure to dislodge the emotional legacy of serfdom.”
The article is online at: https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/01/alternative-to-war-on-britains-poor
by Sandro Gobetti | Mar 4, 2013 | News
[BIN-Italia – December 2012]
An Italian organisation called TILT organised a public debate entitled “Basic Income, Labour, Training: Welfare goes haywire” on the 15th of December at Porta Futuro in Rome.
During the morning session, the meeting was attended by Professor Edwin Morley Fletcher (Professor of Public Policies at Università La Sapienza), Tina Bali (from the Secretary of the union CGIL Roma e Lazio), Antonio Martini (Manager of the Ministry of Economic Development), Nicolò Pecorini (President of Multiverso), Roberto Covolo (Project Manager ex Fadda), and Pasquale Adilardi (Zona Bandita).
During the afternoon session, many other speakers took part in the event: Luca Santini (BIN Italia), Salvatore Marra (CGIL CES), Astrind D’eredità (ANA), Emanuele Toscano (CPU), Alessandro Valera (European Alternatives). Francesco Raparelli (Esc Atelier), Roberto Ciccarelli (Quinto Stato), as well as some members of grassroots organisations such as Diversamente Occupate, Iva sei Partita, Rete della conoscenza, and UDU.
Massimiliano Smeriglio, Town Councillor for Labour Policies at Provincia di Roma, and Nicola Zingaretti, Governor of the Province of Rome, took also part in the event.
https://www.bin-italia.org/
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 24, 2012 | Research
This opinion piece from the Washington Post favorably discusses basic income in light of Mitt Romney’s erroneous statement, “Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work. You wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.” The author discusses some of the history of BIG, including the “Tax Cut for the Rest of Us” bill, which was authored by two members of the USBIG Network. The author concludes, “All of which is to say that while Mitt Romney mocks the idea of just sending checks to fight poverty, the idea has an impressive intellectual pedigree, including among conservatives. Perhaps we should give just writing checks a shot.”
Matthews, Dylan “Obama doesn’t want to just write welfare recipients checks. But what if we did?” The Washington Post, August 8, 2012
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/08/obama-doesnt-want-to-just-write-welfare-recipients-checks-but-what-if-we-did/
