by Stanislas Jourdan | Feb 17, 2015 | News
Ahead of the next general elections in April, the Green Party of Finland has reiterated its support for a basic income policy and updated its model.
Last saturday, the board of the Green league (Finnish Green Party) presented its political platform for the next general elections, which included a proposal for a basic income in Finland.
In line with the current level of social security systems in Finland, the party has estimated the level of basic income at 560€ for all adults. It would replace most of the existing minimum social benefits such as the unemployment benefit and the minimum parental allowance. The party, who supports basic income for a long time already, has updated its model and has made the details available on its website.
The program was adopted last sunday at the Party’s general meeting.
79% of Finns support a basic income policy
Basic income is becoming a uniting topic in Finland. A recent public opinion poll conducted by e2, the think tank of the Finnish Centre Party and the market research company Taloustutkimus. The survey concluded that 79% of Finns support a basic income policy if it “guarantees minimum subsistence, reduces bureaucracy and encourages work and entrepreneurship”. 1268 people replied the poll. The support was highest among young age groups and pensioners. Voters of the Green Party and the Left Alliance are also the most strong supporters for basic income. The lowest support for the policy is found among the Christian Democrat party and the farmers.
During the national citizens’ initiative for basic income in 2013, another opinion poll showed that 54% of the Finns supported basic income. This could confirm a positive evolution of the public support for basic income, however the question was formulated in a different way, which may explain the difference.
The Green League of Finland is the fifth political force in Finland, with around 8% of voters set to back the party, according to recent electoral polls. The centrists party of Finland, which is also in favor of basic income pilots, currently leads the electoral polls with 25.4% of votes intentions. It has won a lot of public support recently.
Last september, the leader of the Centre party has pushed the idea of basic income pilots in several municipalities. The proposal was immediately backed by the Greens, the Left Alliance and even by some conservatives such as Alexander Stubb, prime minister and leader of the National Coalition Party (conservatives).
The parliamentary elections will take place on April 19th.
by Andre Coelho | Feb 6, 2015 | News
In Basque Country, left-wing seperatists from Euskal Herria Bildu and the ecologist coalition Equo Euskadi keep supporting basic income.
In Spain, the basic income concept has recently been brought back into the spotlight by Podemos political party. Although meanwhile basic income has been taken out from Podemos economy orientation project (replaced by other social economic measures), other Spanish social and political organizations have cuddled the concept, particularly in the Gipuzkoa part of the Basque Country, know in Spanish as Euskadi.
In Gipuzkoa, the party EH Bildu defends the basic income implementation, on the basis of a thorough economic study conducted, among others, by Daniel Raventós, which concludes that 75% of the regional population would benefit from the measure, whilst the 10% richest citizens would finance most of it. In Euskadi, the party Equo Euskadi has also written the basic income in its electoral program, for which has also relied on Raventós study to backup its defense.
Just past week, a symposium on basic income has been organized by the municipal house of representatives in Gipuzkoa where yet again the basic income implementation simulation cited above was at the center. One of the delegates, Ander Rodríguez, which heads the social policy group in Gipuzkoa parliament, besides defending basic income as a concept and economic innovation, has suggested it could be implemented in a progressive way, though not immediately.
Despite the results presented in the referred study and the interest picked up by local politicians and parties, other parties and government representatives are still against it, accusing the basic income scheme of being utopian, unconditional (as seen from a negative perspective) and unfair for allegedly transferring money from workers to others that just choose not to work. In fact, recently approved legislation in the region actually hardens conditionality for accessing social inclusion transfers, plus limiting its validity for two years. However, at the same time, such social programs are widening the number of people covered, plus increasing spending.
More information at:
Language: Spanish
Natalia González de Uriarte, “Basic income for all citizens: reality or utopia? [La renta básica universal para todos los ciudadanos, ¿realidad o utopía?]“, eldiarionorte.es, October 2014
Language: Spanish
EHBildu, “Each Gipuzkoa inhabitant could be receiving an yearly 7.902 € basic income, covered by a single income tax [Cada Gipuzkoano podría una renta básica de 7.902 € con un tipo único de IRPF]“, Euskal Herria Bildu online magazine, February 1 2015
Language: Spanish
S. López, “The Basque government hardens the conditions to access conditional basic income, plus limiting its duration for two years [El Gobirno Vasco endurece los requisitos de la renta básica y limita su cobro a dos años]“, Noticias de Gipizkoa, November 2014 (?)
Language: Spanish
Vincent Navarro and Juan Torres López, “An economy project for the people [Un proyeto económico para la gente]“, Podemos, November 2014
by Unconditional Basic Income Europe | Jan 31, 2015 | Opinion
The European Central Bank’s attempt to counter-attack deflationary pressure by giving banks funds raised through QE is doomed to be both ineffective and anti-redistributive. The ECB must consider more unconventional policies if it hopes to get the real economy going again.
Press release by our affiliate Unconditional Basic Income Europe (january 23, 2015)
Update November 2015:
UBI-Europe is one of the 20 organisations that have joined the campaign “Quantitative Easing for People.” Citizens and organisations can join the campaign here: www.qe4people.eu
At the announcement of its quantitative easing program yesterday, the ECB showed that it has learned nothing from recent quantitative easing programs in the UK and the US, where the effects of QE on the real economy has produced no significant results.
“The experience of the US shows that QE is useful to the real economy only when they are combined with expansionary fiscal policies. In Europe, the idea is to combine QE with austerity policies, guaranteed to offset any potential benefits of QE. So, in the absence of a radical change in the eurozone’s fiscal stance, we expect the depression to continue.” said Thomas Fazis, member of UBI-Europe, referring to the conclusion of a recent paper he wrote.
Quantitative Easing is anti-redistributive
At its worst, such a program could increase inequalities. As the Bank of England itself concluded in a recent research paper (pdf): “By pushing up a range of asset prices, asset purchases have boosted the value of households’ financial wealth held outside pension funds, but holdings are heavily skewed with the top 5% of households holding 40% of these assets.”
In short: this QE benefits the rich, not the poor.
There is an alternative: Quantitative Easing for the People
Unconditional Basic Income Europe calls the ECB for an alternative monetary policy such as distributing QE money directly to the pockets of citizens.
“QE for the people is not just a more efficient approach for directly stimulating the real economy, it is also more fair in the current context of deep social inequalities and the rise of extreme poverty in the eurozone. By doing so, the ECB could target two objectives at once.” Thomas Fazi said.
This might sound radical, yet many economists such as Anatole Kaletsky and Steve Keen have backed the idea.
Several proposals for such a policy have emerged recently, notably from Oxford economist John Muellbauer and the chief European economist for the French investment bank Natixis, Sylvain Broyer. Muellbauer calls distributing 500€ to every citizen in the Eurozone, while Broyer’s proposal amounts to 3,000€.
The amount of QE money unveiled yesterday by the ECB could, alternatively, fund a €2100 annual cheque to all residents of the eurozone.
“Such a policy could be a pragmatic, direct pathway towards an unconditional basic income for all in the eurozone. It would set a precedent.” UBI-Europe’s coordinator Stanislas Jourdan said. “Where citizens can be counted on to spend, banks have not shown with previous QE programmes that they can be counted on to lend.”
Quantitative Easing for the People would not violate EU Treaties
“As opposed to having the ECB financing governments and public entities, handing cash directly to the citizens is not explicitly prohibited by the EU Treaties.” Thomas Fazi explained.
Moreover, such a program would be far more protective of the independence of the ECB. By targeting the quantitative easing money to all citizens without distinction, the institution could not be blamed for interfering with governments.
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 2, 2014 | News
Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIE) is organising a series of five conferences on the theme “UBI in Europe – Promoting civil society” in order to promote Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) in Europe over the next year. The conferences are:
- UBI as a response to social inequality in Europe – Maribor, Slovenia, 19th-20th March 2015.
- Minimum Income vs. Basic Income – Paris, France, 19th -20th June 2015
- Stimulating Social Cohesion and Peace – The Hague, Netherlands, 17th -18th Sept. 2015
- National UBI vs. UBI in Europe – Budapest, Hungary, 5th – 6th Dec. 2015
- UBI and Degrowth – Cologne, Germany, 26th – 28th Feb. 2016
For each of those events, organizers want to adopt a participative way of elaborating the programs, and therefore, they are seeking for contributions to our first conference to be held in Maribor, Slovenia, 19th-20th March 2015.
The invitation is open to all European citizens with a wider interest in unconditional basic income who wish to share their findings and research with a European network. The conference in Maribor will explore the following key themes:
- Different social support systems and inequality
- Reaching social cohesion in Europe – Basic Income as one possible solution
The deadline for proposals is 8th January. For more details on how to participate, please see the conference website.
See also UBIE’s calendar of events.
UBIE Conference in Slovenia
by Stanislas Jourdan | Nov 25, 2014 | Opinion
Last month, the Icelandic Pirate Party made a significant move in order to create discussion in Iceland about basic income by submitting a resolution to the national parliament. While the proposed resolution remains to be discussed, we have contacted its author Halldóra Mogensen, Deputy MP of the Pirate Party of Iceland in order to get to know more about her initiative.
Can you tell us more about the Icelandic context in regards to basic income?
There is very little awareness of the ideas behind the unconditional basic income (UBI) in Iceland. There are a couple of groups that I know of that have put UBI on their agenda. One is Alda, Association for Sustainability and Democracy, the other is the Icelandic Humanist Party which ran in the 2013 national elections.
The best literature I have come across so far on UBI in Icelandic is a bachelors essay (pdf) written in 2013 by Bragi Þór Antoníusson. The essay looks at the UBI from an Icelandic point of view and attempts to calculate costs and benefits of introducing such a system in Iceland. The calculations however were incomplete due to the lack of transparency in government accounts.
I recently sat in parliament for two weeks as a deputy for Pirate Party MP Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson and used the opportunity to, amongst other things, ask the health minister and the housing and welfare minister for a written account of the total operational costs of the entire welfare system. The answers will help give us a better idea of the feasibility of introducing a UBI in Iceland.
Why is the Icelandic Pirate Party interested in the idea of basic income – and how did you come up with this resolution?
There are other Icelandic Pirates who are very interested in UBI ideas but it has never really been discussed on any proper channels within the party. I am a proponent of taking an holistic approach in all issues. As a society I feel we spend too much time and effort treating symptoms when we should be looking at the root disease causing these symptoms. I feel UBI has the possibility of addressing the root cause of the inequality and dysfunctional democracy we face as a society.
When I received the news of my short entrance into parliament my original thought was to write a speech about poverty and inequality and to touch upon the subject of UBI as a possible solution when Aðalheiður Ámundadóttir, human rights lawyer and employee of the Icelandic Pirate Party, suggested that I write a proposal instructing the housing and welfare minister along with the finance minister to put together a team to research the UBI idea. I delved into the project and rallied together individuals who have been writing about UBI in Iceland and sought out their help in writing the proposal (here on the parliament’s website).
What sort of reactions have you received so far?
Mostly curiosity, especially from other MP’s. Apart from Pirates MP’s who were very enthusiastic about the idea, other Icelandic MPs were very hesitant to sponsor the proposal but found the idea to be interesting and positive. No one I spoke with had heard of UBI before, and that most likely explains their hesitation. Hopefully the proposal will spark an interest in gathering more information on the subject.
What are the chance for the resolution to pass?
I have to admit that I am not incredibly hopeful that the proposal will pass, it might never even go to the vote. The first step in the process is for me to speak on behalf of the proposal in parliament after which time it will go to a committee to be discussed. The committee will then decide whether the proposal gets put through to a parliamentary discussion. After two rounds of spoken discussions there could be a vote.
This being said the main goal of writing this proposal was to start the conversation, not only in parliament but in the community. I wanted people to get acquainted with the ideas behind the UBI and start the conversation in Iceland, and to me this was the first step on that journey.
Can you tell us more on how you got into the idea of basic income?
I really cant remember how I got into the idea of basic income. I read a lot and spend time around strange, radical minded people I guess! I have enjoyed following the discussion going on in Europe and seeing the idea gaining support. I was very excited to see UBI being discussed in The Economist, going into the main stream is a big step. I am also very hopeful for the Swiss elections on a basic income. All of this international coverage seeps into the Icelandic conversation but there is a need for more literature in Icelandic. I hope to see this happen in the near future as the idea gains support.
Halldóra Mogensen, thank you!
