by Toru Yamamori | Jun 9, 2017 | News
Ping Xu from UBI Taiwan has disclosed that a Basic Income pilot project is under discussion.
Xu made her remarks at her talks at Doshisha University on 21 April and at Kyoto Basic Income Weekend event during 22 and 23 April.
UBI Taiwan is laying the groundwork for a potential pilot program, although discussions are at an early stage and no determination or funding has been confirmed as of June. According to Tyler Prochazka from UBI Taiwan:
• UBI Taiwan has met with the Taichung Social Affairs Bureau to discuss a potential pilot project.
• UBI Taiwan has met with village chiefs, NGOs, and other relevant authorities to begin preparing the framework for the potential pilot program. The organization is looking at several locations in Taiwan to determine viability of the project.
• Currently, there is no funding for the pilot program. Preliminary research is being completed to create a framework for the project if funding is made available.
• UBI Taiwan will complete a comprehensive pilot program proposal by August 2017 to present to relevant authorities. The proposal will be crafted in coordination with international experts and local experts in Taiwan.
• UBI Taiwan is working with Academia Sinica to collect the first national polling of Taiwanese attitudes toward UBI.
Further updates on UBI Taiwan’s progress will be disclosed throughout the summer. In July, UBI Taiwan will begin its Summer Fellowship program, working with students to complete the preliminary research for the pilot program and increase awareness of basic income.
Reviewed by Russell Ingram
Photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Chen Tao Liao
by Tyler Prochazka | Feb 6, 2017 | News
Activists in Taiwan have scheduled a meeting with a representative from Taiwan’s Executive Yuan (the executive branch) in which they will present the idea of a basic income pilot program in one of Taiwan’s cities.
UBI Taiwan will give the presentation on March 9 to present an idea for a pilot program.
Jay Hsu of UBI Taiwan will give the presentation. The location of the presentation is not yet determined.
UBI Taiwan submitted the proposal for presentation on January 20 to the Executive Yuan, and received confirmation that they were invited to present the proposal last week.
Taiwan will also hold the first Universal Basic Income in the Asia Pacific International Conference on March 18. Prominent activist Enno Schmidt has confirmed that he will attend the conference.
Updated 5/23/17: Removed references to Audrey Tang and Ping Xu, who were not part of the presentation.
by Tyler Prochazka | Oct 6, 2016 | News
Iceland is poised to elect the Pirate Party as one of the two largest parties in the new parliament. The Cato Institute recently reported that this could be great news for Basic Income advocates.
The Pirate Party introduced a proposal last year to research the feasibility of a basic income as a replacement to the existing welfare system. This proposal falls in line with the Pirate Party’s overall focus on direct democracy and technology.
However, Halldóra Mogensen, Deputy MP of the Pirate Party of Iceland, said in an email exchange with Basic Income News that the Cato Institute “seems to be taking quite a leap.”
“We (the Pirates) have a proposal in the welfare committee proposing that UBI be looked into as a possible substitute to the current welfare programs but that’s the extent of it. Who knows what will happen in the future, but as of now, there are no concrete plans,” Mogenson said.
The Pirate Party is known for pushing for accountability in government and using technology to engage civic society. Iceland’s move toward the Pirate Party coincides with their growing distrust of institutional parties. A basic income could be a mechanism for Iceland to achieve both of the Pirate Party’s goals by reducing bureaucracy and allowing individuals to more freely participate in civic society.
As the Cato Institute notes, the current welfare system in Iceland deters work and a basic income may “reduce these work disincentives” depending on how it is constructed.
by Tyler Prochazka | Aug 3, 2016 | Opinion
As the US Presidential race heats up, most of the candidates have already made their opinions known regarding Universal Basic Income. Regardless, it is imperative that the United States fund new basic income pilot programs to test how a basic income would affect the current economy.
The United States experimented with a type of basic income in the 1960s and 70s, but it is time to collect new data. This is the first step toward implementing a full UBI in the United States.
Recent pilot programs throughout the world, such as in India, have given the basic income movement ammunition to push its message, showing improved educational, health and entrepreneurial outcomes. A pilot program in the United States would show policymakers that a basic income is far superior to our outdated bureaucratic safety net.
Sign this petition to ask all of the US presidential candidates to take a pledge to fund basic income pilot programs throughout the country.
by Guest Contributor | Jul 23, 2016 | News
The Government of Ontario is moving to undertake a basic income pilot project. In recent weeks it has been receiving expert information and advice, for example from Jurgen De Wispelaere (formerly on the Board of Basic Income Canada Network and now a member of its new Advisory Council). On May 26th De Wispelaere presented to the government’s Deputy Ministers Social Policy Committee.
Two of the most knowledgeable experts concerning the Manitoba Mincome experiment of the 1970s are its former executive director, Dr. Ron Hikel, and University of Manitoba economist and researcher Dr. Evelyn Forget. At the recent North American Basic Income Congress in Winnipeg, Dr. Hikel spoke about Mincome and lessons learned that could be applied to the Ontario pilot. I also recommend watching Dr. Forget’s appearance on June 13th on Steve Paikin’s program, The Agenda: the 17 minute video reflects Evelyn’s sweeping knowledge of the history and results of Mincome.
Another encouraging sign of the Ontario government’s seriousness behind giving basic income a try was its appointment last month of the Hon. Hugh Segal as the pilot’s special advisor. A trailblazer for basic income in Canada over the past 40 years, Mr. Segal will now “deliver a discussion paper to the province by the fall to help inform the design and implementation of the pilot….The discussion paper will include advice about potential criteria for selecting target populations and/or locations, delivery models and advice about how the province could evaluate the results of the basic income pilot” (source).
Ontario’s Premier, the Hon. Kathleen Wynne, has publicly recognized that Ontario needs to investigate basic income as an alternative to welfare. Among welfare’s many problems: its profound stigmatization of “clients” of the system. And on that, I recommend David Calnitsky’s fine academic paper exploring the non-stigmatizing effects of Manitoba Mincome.
by Rob Rainer
Basic Income Advocate and Member, Advisory Council of Basic Income Canada Network
