by Andre Coelho | Oct 16, 2016 | News
Daniel Raventós
This TEDx talk, at Sant Cugat, Barcelona, features Daniel Raventós, president of the Spanish Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) affiliate and professor at the Economics and Enterprise department of the Barcelona University.
In this short presentation, Raventós defines basic income in a general sense, and addresses the usual arguments against the implementation of this idea. He recalls the predictions that John Maynard Keynes made for society in the 1930’s, and he talks about how Keynes failed to predict the actual workload people endure nowadays despite all the productivity gains, technological developments and work flexibility. In his concluding remarks, he cites Arthur C. Clarke‘s famous words about great ideas: that they all go through three phases, the first being “It’s Madness!”, the second “It’s OK, but we have other priorities at the moment” and the third “I’ve been defending that idea for many years now.” Raventós thinks we’re somewhere between the second and third phases regarding basic income.
More information at:
In Spanish:
Youtube, “Renta Básica Incondicional: una propuesta racional y justa [Basic Income: a rational and just proposition]”, TEDx SantCugat, 20th September 2016
by Kate McFarland | Oct 12, 2016 | News
Unconditional Basic Income Europe is holding a meeting and conference, “UBI is Coming!”, at the Centro Cultural Moncloa in Madrid, Spain, October 15-16.
Sunday will feature a roundtable discussion with Karl Widerquist, Irina Studhalter, Lena Stark, Nicole Teke, and members of Marea Básica, Red Renta Básica (BIEN Spain), and Attac.
More information (in Spanish) is available at Marea Básica’s website.
Reviewed by Barb Jacobson
Madrid photo CC BY-NC 2.0 Jose Maria Cuellar
![SPAIN [Basque Country]: Political party Elkarrekin Podemos defends basic income in upcoming elections](https://i0.wp.com/basicincome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Maria-and-Julen.jpg?resize=1%2C1&ssl=1)
by Andre Coelho | Sep 23, 2016 | News
Next Sunday, the 25th of September, will be election day in the Basque Country (regional elections). Because of this, political parties have been frantically campaigning over the last few days—including, especially, the Elkarrekin Podemos, which holds basic income in its political program.
Party leaders like Maria Pilar Artano and Julen Bollain Urbieta take the basic income proposal very seriously, and their efforts to promote it have been supported by Daniel Raventós, president of Red Renta Básica (BIEN’s Spanish affiliate).
If elected, the overall plan will be to launch a large scale debate on basic income in the region, over the first year of legislature. This could be a crucial step to allow the idea to gain traction among the population, paving the way for a regional referendum to be held at the end of that period. In the words of Julen Bollain:
“The Basque population will be the one deciding whether they want the implementation of an Unconditional Basic Income in their region or not. If the result is positive, there nothing else to say. Let’s go for it!”
In this context, the debate has already started. On the 12th of September, a talk dedicated to basic income – which brought together keynote speakers as Nagua Alba, Daniel Raventós, Tinixara Guanche and Julen Bollain – received the attention of the local television station.
More information at:
Elkarrekin Podemos electoral program
by Kate McFarland | Sep 6, 2016 | News
Economist Daniel Raventós — head of Red Renta Básica, BIEN’s Spanish affiliate — will be participating in a debate hosted by the College of Social Work at the University of Alicante. The debate, which will take place on September 7, concerns the topic of “social intervention beyond the basic income”.
Other participants include Maria Dolores Soler (President of the College), Mercè Martínez (Director General of Social Services), and Angel Elias (Dean of the School of Labor Relations and Social Work at the University of the Basque Country).
For more information, and to learn about future events, see the event page on Red Renta Básica’s site.
Reviewed by André Coelho
Photo: Alicante Castle, CC BY-NC 2.0 Francisco Martins
by Kate McFarland | May 18, 2016 | Research
Sergi Raventós (Autonomous University of Barcelona) recently completed a doctoral thesis on the topic of basic income and mental health.
In the dissertation, Raventós — who also works in a mental health foundation in Barcelona and is a member of the board of the Red Renta Básica — examines empirical evidence concerning the effects of direct cash payments (in India, Namibia, North Carolina, Kenya, and Alaska, for example) and concludes that, among other benefits, unconditional cash payments tend to lead to improved mental health in communities where they are instituted.
Plausibly, a basic income could ameliorate the social and economic inequality and insecurity that Raventós demonstrates to have a destructive effect on mental health.
Raventós, Sergi (2016) Socioeconomic Inequality and Mental Health: The Proposal of a Basic Income as a Means to Protect and Promote Mental Health, Barcelona: Autonomous University of Barcelona (Doctoral Thesis).
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to provide a theoretical approximation to mental health and several related concepts. The social determinants of (mental) health have shown in recent years that human beings are susceptible to economic uncertainty, precariousness of their living conditions and social inequality.
This study considers social and especially income inequalities, and how they affect mental health, drawing attention to the extraordinary importance of policies aiming at social and economic protection, which are seen as essential for offering stability and security in people’s lives and health. The political orientations of a range of health-oriented institutions and agencies working to promote mental health and to reduce social inequality are considered, while critical evaluation is made of some policies being implemented by the Spanish and Catalan governments at a time of serious economic crisis and a concomitant rise of mental health problems deriving from poverty, unemployment and job insecurity. In this situation of severe economic recession and drastically increased poverty, and with everything it entails in terms of psychological suffering and mental health problems, the Spanish and Catalan governments have resorted to the same measures they have used in periods of economic growth, obsolete strategies which have proven ineffective in the long, unabating crisis. All of this has contributed towards worsening economic insecurity which, as a range of research projects have demonstrated, has serious consequences for mental health.
The study concludes with a discussion of Basic Income, a social protection measure offering economic security which has been tested in several countries. Experiments whereby unconditional cash payments made over different periods to target populations in India, Namibia, North Carolina, Kenya, Alaska, for example, have provided empirical evidence of improvement in different aspects of health and mental health in particular, together with a reduction of social inequalities and poverty, advances in education, human relations, and in the economic sphere, inter alia.
