by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 25, 2013 | Research
On October 25, 2013, basic income made the front page of the Flemish left-of-centre daily De Morgen. The article referred to a new book authored by Peter De Keyzer, a chief economist at the bank BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels. In his book, entitled “Growth makes happy”, De Keyzer advocates the implementation of a substantial basic income of EUR1,000 per month in Belgium, and the suppression of several existing benefits (such as pensions and social assistance). The article also includes an interview with Evelyn Forget (University of Manitoba) about the Canadian BI experiments in the 1970s, as well as with Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain University). According to Van Parijs, “In Europe, the idea of a basic income has never been so lively than these days”. The President of the Flemish Green Party, Wouter Van Besien, criticizes the proposal made by De Keyzer, as it would- he argues – lead to more inequality and more poverty. The editorial of De Morgen, by Bart Eeckhout, is also entirely devoted to basic income. It is entitled “Basic income is worth a discussion”.
The editorial by Bart Eeckhout can be read online (although its title is different from the printed version). The article itself is not available online.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 16, 2013 | News
On Tuesday 15 October 2013, Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain University) took part in a popular TV show on Belgium French-speaking TV channel RTBf. He had no more than 3 minutes to argue in favour of basic income, and reply to various questions about its feasibility. In his introduction to the debate, the front person refered to the Swiss initiative on basic income.
The video (in French) can bee seen here. Go to 13:54 to view the discussion with Van Parijs.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Sep 20, 2013 | Research
Bocconi University Press has just published a second edition of “Il reddito minimo universale”, an introductory book on basic income written by Philippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght (Louvain University). Originally published in French in 2005, this book had been translated into Italian in 2006, with a preface by Chiara Saraceno. The French version is out of print, but still available online.
Further details: https://www.egeaonline.it/editore/catalogo/reddito-minimo-universale-il-ii-edizione.aspx
Full references: VAN PARIJS, Philippe & VANDERBORGHT, Yannick (2013), Il reddito minimo universale, Milano: Università Bocconi Editore EGEA, 192p., 2013, ISBN/EAN: 9788883502040
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 21, 2012 | News
Drawing thousands of participants, the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association took place in Denver (Colorado) on 15-21 August 2012. At the initiative of its current President, Erik Olin Wright (University of Wisconsin Madison), the theme chosen for this years’s plenary sessions and for a sequence of thematic sessions was “Real Utopias”. The idea of a universal basic income was given a prominent place. Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain and Oxford) gave the opening plenary lecture on the importance of utopian thinking and the ways in which sociologists could contribute to intelligent utopian thinking on basic income. Erik Olin Wright’s massively attended presidental address emphasized the special importance of basic income in supporting the sustainability of other real utopias. And the idea of basic income kept coming up at other sessions, for example in Claus Offe’s (Berlin) intervention on “What does it mean to be a progressive in the 21st century?”, or in Yochai Benkler’s (Harvard) session on “Practical anarcism in networked societies”.
The lectures by Erik Olin Wright and Philippe Van Parijs can be watched on
by Yannick Vanderborght | Jul 5, 2012 | News
The latest issue (17) of the online magazine Europe & Me includes an interview with Philippe Van Parijs. Entitled “No conditions attached”, it focuses on basic income as a way to achieve social justice in Europe. As Van Parijs puts it: “Basic Income on a European level is a utopia. But so was the single currency and so was the European Union. We need to realise this utopia to make the utopia we’ve already realised survive.”
The interview is online at: https://www.europeandme.eu/17brain/952-unconditional-basic-income
