Stanislas Jourdan, “The Dauphin, Manitoba Experiment: Did a Basic Income Guarantee Create a Healthier Community?”, Leaders and Legacies, 17 November 2014
Local Finnish authorities at Åland, a Swedish speaking archipelago between Finland and Sweden mainland, are considering, within their territory, the creation of a special fiscal zone where basic income-like social experiments could be performed. The Åland Office of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland presently manages conditional basic income benefits for locals, but could be on the brink of taking the next bold step of turning these benefit schemes entirely unconditional.
The recently elected Center Party, which is presently the most represented party in the Finnish Parliament and supporter of Basic Income, is willing to regionally experiment its implementation. That is why Sonja Nordenswan, activist in basic income support group BINK – basinkomst Åland (Åland basic income), is confident about the possibilities of this government actually moving forward with this projet.
Anna Wiksten, Sonja Nordenswan, Erica Scott. Foto: Tomas Tornefjell.
In a recent radio program from Åland local radio and TV network RTV, Sonja Nordenswan has also referred to a possible 1000 € per month basic income, which could replace most of present day state funded benefits, such as social security, unemployment benefits and tax credits. These and other aspects were debated at this radio venue, organized by ABF, an Åland based association of workers focused on learning processes, training and culture.
More information at:
Åland Office of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, 2015
In Finnish:
Tomas Torre Fjell, “Åland as a testing field for Basic Income [Åland testområde för basinkomst]“, RTV Åland radio/tv, May 25, 2015
Liam Upton, “FINLAND: Pro-Basic Income Centre Party wins election“, April 20, 2015
Credit picture CC ehrenbergkommunikation
ANSA reported on May 12 that Lombardy Governor Maroni may introduce a basic income experiment in Lombardy, Italy. However, Sandro Gobetti, Coordinator of Basic Income Network Italia, suggests that these reports are unfounded and untrue, saying that Maroni has no intention of implementing a basic income scheme as defined by BIEN. For a more clear picture of the basic income situation in Italy, please visit Basic Income Network Italia’s website. Gobetti’s cautionary explanation can be found in the comments of this post, while ANSA’s article is printed below:
(ANSA) – Milan, May 12 – Lombardy Governor Roberto Maroni said Monday that his executive intends to introduce, on an experimental basis, a basic-income benefit to ensure all families in the region have enough money to be able to pay for basic necessities. Maroni said he intended to use 220 million euros from from the European Social Fund (ESF) for the initiative. “In Lombardy I want to bring in the first experiment of the basic income, reserved for citizens who are resident in Lombardy, and consistent with the aims of the European Social Fund”. To read ANSA’s article, click here.
Further, a discussion in Italian of this basic income experiment is taking place on Reddit. To read and join the discussion, click here.
Credit
to: www.flickr.com
Scott Santens reports on a recently completed basic income pilot in Liberia. Results closely follow other cash transfer programs, as money expenditure goes mainly to food, followed by school, housing, health, savings and clothing. Still according to the referred pilot study, one third of the recipients started businesses of their own, and the sharing of money and food grew. It seems clear that Basic Income works.
Scott Santens, “Guess what happened when Liberia tested a pilot program of cash transfers to the extreme poor in Bomi“, Scott Santens Blog, February 23 2015
The Adam Smith institute, self-describing as being ‘at the forefront of making the case for free markets and a free society in the United Kingdom,’ recently drew attention to desirability of a Negative Income Tax, by reclaiming the 1970s experiments on it in USA.
Ben Southwood, “We’ve actually tried negative income taxes, and they seem to work ” Adam Smith Institute, November 6, 2014.