BIEN
BASIC
INCOME EARTH NETWORK
NEWSFLASH Volume 25, no. 67 Autumn 2012
www.basicincome.org
The Basic Income Earth Network was founded in
1986 as the Basic Income European Network. It expanded its scope from Europe to
the Earth in 2004. It serves as a link between individuals and groups committed
to or interested in basic income and fosters informed discussion on this topic
throughout the world.
This NewsFlash can be downloaded as a PDF
document on our website www.basicincome.org
For up-to-date information about basic income, see:
http://binews.org/
1. Editorial: New editor at
BIEN NewsFlash
2. Glimpses of the national debates
3. Publications
4. Recent Events
5. Upcoming events
6. Videos
7. WRITERS AND VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for BI News, the
BIEN NewsFlash, and affiliate newsletters
8. New Links
9. About
the Basic Income Earth Network
With this issue, I am taking over as the third editor of BIENs NewsFlash. What is now the NewsFlash began in 1988 as Basic Income: Newsletter of the Basic Income European Network. It was a hardcopy newsletter, meaning that copies of it were actually printed out on paper and put into an envelope, to which postage was fixed so that it could be physically carried to its recipients. The original editor was Philippe Van Parijs. In January 2000, after editing 33 issues of the newsletter, Van Parijs oversaw the transition from print to fully electronic format, along with this change came the name change to, The BIEN NewsFlash.
Van Parijs edited 28 more issues after the newsletter became the NewsFlash. After a total of 51 issues over 16 years, he finally turned the NewsFlash over to Yannick Vanderborght in September 2004. In 2010, Yannick Vanderborght (with help from several of BIENs affiliate newsletters) oversaw the expansion of the NewsFlash with the creation of the Basic Income News Website (BInews.org). With the creation of BI News, news stories are not only sent out electronically by email, but they are also posted promptly on the internet so that people can get news on basic income regularly. Vanderborght edited 38 issues of the NewsFlash over eight years, and stepped down from his position as editor in September 2012.
At that time, BIENs General Assembly elected me to take over as News Editor. My name might be familiar to readers of the NewsFlash because I have been editor of the USBIG Newsletter since January 2000. As USBIG Newsletter editor, I have regularly contributed stories to the NewsFlash, and I have co-edited BI News. My editorship involves a further integration of BI News, the NewsFlash, and at least some of BIENs affiliate newsletters. The USBIG Newsletter will now become the US National edition of the NewsFlash, including some overlapping content and national content likely to be of interest only to U.S. readers. Other affiliates of BIEN might begin producing their own national editions of the NewsFlash as early as next year. The BIEN NewsFlash will focus on international news and local stories that are likely to be of interest to readers in many different countries. The affiliate edition(s) will focus on national and regional news while including whatever stories from the international edition are most likely to be of interest to people in that country.
The new editorship and integration will likely come along with a new and evolving format. The NewsFlash is now written largely by a team of volunteers, after having been a one-person operation for more than two decades. I am not sure exactly what changes and in store, but I look forward to seeing what happens next.
-Karl Widerquist, Quick Bites Caf, Doha Qatar, November 2012
[USBIG – November 2012]
Alaska distributed its yearly Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) on October 4, 2012.
The amount was disappointing, only $878—down from last years dividend of
$1,174 and the smallest dividend since 2005. The 2012 dividend was only the
second dividend in the last 20 years to be below $900, and it is well below the
all-time highest dividend of $2,069 in 2008 ($3269 including a one-time supplement
the state added to the 2008 dividend).
The PFD is a sort of a yearly, variable basic income, given to all U.S.
citizens (men, women, and children) who fill out a form showing that they meet
the states residency requirement for eligibility. This year nearly 650,000
Alaskans received the dividend. It is financed by the Alaska Permanent Fund
(APF), which is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the state and financed in turn
by the accumulated savings from the states oil exports. The dividend varies
considerably from year-to-year because the amount is calculated from a complex
formula averaging the last five years of returns to the fund. The dividend is
down this year because of the poor performance of international stock and bond
markets over the last five years.
For more recent stories on Alaskas PFD, see the following stories:
This years dividend is the smallest since 2005
Karl Widerquist, Alaska
Dividend Blog, November 26, 2012
http://usbig.net/alaskablog/2012/11/this-year%E2%80%99s-dividend-is-the-smallest-since-2005/
Alaskans to get $878 in yearly oil wealth payout
By Rachel D'Oro Associated Press, September 18, 2012
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/amount-annual-alaska-dividend-be-announced
Smaller Alaska dividend check likely to disappoint ... for good reason
Carey Restino, Bristol Bay Times, Sep
20, 2012
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/smaller-alaska-dividend-check-likely-disappoint-good-reason
Dividend set: Alaskans shouldnt forget funds purpose
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Editorial
Sep 18, 2012
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/20186798/article-Dividend-set--Alaskans-shouldn%E2%80%99t-forget-fund%E2%80%99s-purpose?instance=home_opinion_editorial
2012 Permanent Fund Dividend is $878
SIT News Ketchikan, Alaska, September
18, 2012
http://www.sitnews.us/0912News/091812/091812_pfd.html
Permanent Fund Dividend Lowest Since 2005
Russ Slaten, Your Alaska Link, Sep
19, 2012
http://www.youralaskalink.com/news/Permanent-Fund-Dividend-Lowest-Since-2005-170382336.html
With Alaska's higher costs, dividends won't go far
Mark Thiessen, Associated Press, Sep
18, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-18/with-alaskas-higher-costs-dividends-wont-go-far
PFDs still good for business, but not like the glory days
Jeff Richardson, Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, Sep 19, 2012
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/20198521-PFDs-still-good-for-business-but-not-like-the-glory-days
Happy Socialist Money Grab Day, Alaska!
Jeanne Devon, the Mudflats, September
19, 2012
http://www.themudflats.net/?p=33271
By the numbers: Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend
Eric Christopher Adams, The Alaska
Dispatch, Sep 18, 2012
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/numbers-alaska-permanent-fund-dividend
Alaskans donate $2.2 million from PFDs using Pick.Click.Give.
Alaska Dispatch, Oct 06, 2012
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaskans-donate-22-million-pfds-using-pickclickgive
Count the ways Alaskans spend their $878 Permanent Fund check
Alaska Dispatch, Oct 05, 2012
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/count-ways-alaskans-spend-their-878-permanent-fund-check
It's time to cut state spending: The numbers show future has arrived
Bradford Keithley, Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, Oct 07, 2012
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/20385563/article-It-s-time-to-cut-state-spending--The-numbers-show-future-has-arrived?instance=home_opinion_community_perspectives
PFD program generates record amount for Alaska nonprofits
Anchorage Daily News, October 5, 2012
http://www.adn.com/2012/10/05/2652015/pfd-program-generates-record-amount.html
[BIEN - September 27, 2012]
During its general assembly of September 16th, 2012, the Basic Income Earth
Network officially recognized three new affiliate networks. BIEN now has no
less than 20 affiliates. The three new BIEN national networks are all located
in Europe:
Belgium: http://basicincome.be/ (available in Dutch, French, German, and
English)
Finland: http://perustulo.org/
Slovenia: contact address is valerija_korosec@yahoo.com (see also the programme
of a conference to be organized in Ljubljana on October 11-12, 2012:
http://www.inovum.si/ubi/en)
The BIEN General assembly was held within the framework of BIENs 14th
international conference in Munich, Germany.
[Jenna van Draanen - BICN - November 2012]
Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party in Canada and an MP in British
Columbia recently endorsed basic income. The endorsement of a Guaranteed
Livable Income came through a press release on October 17, the United Nations
(UN) International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Mays press release
reminds her audience that the Green Party is the only political party in Canada
to advocate for a basic income as a means to eradicate poverty. The endorsement
occurring on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an apt
response to the UN resolution for all member states to create and implement
concrete strategies to eliminate poverty.
More about her remarks can be found online at: http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2012/10/18/elizabeth-may-calls-for-a-guaranteed-livable-income-in-canada/
[USBIG – September 2012]
Over more than a year, Indias Self Employed Womens
Association (SEWA) with support from UNICEF has been conducting a cash transfer
pilot project in rural villages. They have just released some of their
preliminary findings, and results are extremely encouraging. The study was
conducted in 20 rural villages in India. Adult residents of 8 of those villages
received a cash transfer of 200 Rupees (about US$3.75) per month. Children
received 100 Rupees. Residents of the other 12 villages were observed as a
control group as in a medical trial. The money was distributed
unconditionally. Residents were told they could do whatever they wanted with
the money.
Positive results were found in terms of nutrition, health, education, housing
and infrastructure, and economic activity. The researchers found that the cash
transfer group spent significantly more on eggs, meat, and fish than the
control group. Researchers found a positive impact on health and access to
medical treatment. The most visible impact of the study was on educational
attainment. Researchers found increased spending on school-related items such
as school uniforms, school fees, shoes for school, books, school supplies, and
private tuition. School attendance in the cash transfer villages shot up, three
times the level of the control villages. Performance in school improved
significantly relative to control villages. There was increased investment in
housing, such as the installation of in-door plumbing. Twice the number of cash
transfer households started new activity over the study period as those in
non-cash transfer villages.
SEWA has released a video explain the results and including interviews with
participants in the study. This video explains the results of the Indian basic
income pilot project. It includes interviews with participants in the study.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItkZ5b-C3Nw&feature=youtu.be
See also the story in the video section below.
[USBIG – October 2012]
According to the Namibian, the United
Nations (UN) special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena
Sepulveda, has called on the Namibian government to put aside prejudices
against the poor and implement the Basic Income Grant (BIG) as soon as
possible. A rapporteur is a person appointed by an organization to report on
the proceedings of its meetings. The Namibian reports that Sepulveda arrived in Namibia
on October 1, and toured several regions where she met with government
officials, civil society organizations and communities living in poverty.
For more info go to: http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=102841&no_cache=1
[Robin
Ketelaars – Vereniging Basisinkomen (the Netherlands) – September
2012]
The elections of September 12, 2012 in the Netherlands were characterized by
many debates in the media: radio, television, magazines and newspapers. The
elections resulted in 21,176 votes for parties endorsing an Unconditional Basic
Income (UBI - OBI in Dutch), but these parties didn't get any seats in
parliament.
Reporting in the election paid little attention to UBI as an issue. Stories and
interviews focused on the party leaders of the major parties and some of the
smaller parties in the parliament. A few new parties that seek more substantial
innovations (such as direct democracy, digital civil rights and an
unconditional basic income) were sparsely covered. Of course, every political
party received free airtime on public broadcasting, but that was it. The polls
taken in advance of the elections only concerned the established parties. The
newcomers received no attention.
[Citizens
Income Trust – September 2012]
On the 30th
May 2012 the General Conference of the International Labour Organization reaffirmed
that the right to social security is a human right and recommended that member
countries should establish and maintain social protection floors Schemes
providing such benefits may include universal benefit schemes, social insurance
schemes, social assistance schemes, negative income tax schemes, .
For more information see: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_183326.pdf
[USBIG – November 2012]
The next issue of Basic Income Studies (BIS) will be
available soon. This academic, peer-reviewed journal has been in a period of
transition. The new publisher is De Gruyter, which acquired BIS earlier this
year from Berkeley Electronic Press. The editing of the journal is being passed
from Karl Widerquist and Jurgen De Wispelaeare to Louise Haagh (University of
York, UK) and James Mulvale (University of Regina, Canada).
The past issues of BIS continue to be accessible at no cost at
http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis (by pressing on "read content"
button).
If you are involved in scholarly work on Basic Income, and would like to reach
a broad audience of academics from many disciplines as well as policy experts
and advocates, please consider submitting your manuscript to BIS.
[USBIG – November 2012]
Brown, Ellen, Why QE3 Wont Jump-Start the
Economy—and What Would, Web of
Debt, September 21, 2012; reprinted by Truth
Dig Sep 22, 2012.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_qe3_wont_jumpstart_the_economyand_what_would_20120922//
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/2012/09/20/for-qe-ben-should-have-tried-the-helicopter
Kaletsky, Anatole, How about quantitative easing for the people? Reuters Opinion, August 1, 2012
http://blogs.reuters.com/anatole-kaletsky/2012/08/01/how-about-quantitative-easing-for-the-people/
Hutchinson, Martin, For QE, Ben Should Have Tried the Helicopter, Resource Investor, September 20, 2012
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/2012/09/20/for-qe-ben-should-have-tried-the-helicopter
Three recent U.S. editorials have argued that Quantitative Easing would be more
effective and more equitable if the money was given directly to the people in
the form of a basic income—if only a temporary one. Martin Hutchinson
discusses the Feds goal of buying $40 billion dollars worth of debt each month
for as many months as it takes. He argues that for only $31 billion dollars per
month the Fed could send a $100 check to each of the 310 million US citizens. Anatole
Kaletsky argues that $2 trillion (the amount the Fed spent on Quantitative
Easing in 2009) could finance a cash dividend of $6,500 for every man, woman
and child, or $26,000 for a family of four. All three agree this would be a
superior anti-recession policy than Quantitative Easing, which directly
benefits bankers and has a lesser effect on overall economic activity.
[Citizens
Income Trust – September 2012]
The
Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a report, Reforming Council Tax Benefit, which reviews the Governments plan
to localise Council Tax Benefit: Universal Credit is intended to simplify the
benefit system by reducing the number of different benefits that claimants and
administrators must contend with. Keeping council tax support (the means-tested
benefit with the largest number of recipients) separate – and indeed
allowing it to vary across the country – severely undermines this simplification.
Universal Credit is also intended to rationalise work incentives by replacing a
jumble of overlapping means tests with a single one, ensuring that overall
effective tax rates cannot rise too high. Again, separate means tests for
council tax support could undermine this, with the potential to reintroduce
some of the extremely weak work incentives that Universal Credit was supposed
to eliminate. It is difficult to think of reasons why the governments original
plan to integrate CTB into Universal Credit was inferior to what is now being
proposed (pp.8-9). Achieving coherence between council tax rebates and
Universal Credit is complex. The need to make the new rebates fit with
Universal Credit makes local authorities task of designing schemes, already a
difficult challenge given the tight timescale, into a truly formidable one.
There is nothing in the Universal Credit system that will make it
straightforward to identify those who should be passported onto a full council
tax rebate. That could make running a council tax rebate scheme based closely
on the current system extremely challenging for local authorities the
advantages of localisation seem to be strongly outweighed by the disadvantages,
particularly in the context of the welcome introduction
of
Universal Credit. (p.107)
Adam, Stuart and James Browne, Reforming
Council Tax Benefit, The Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2012
www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6183
[USBIG – November 2012]
According to the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation, this paper has the following
content: Short history of the idea of a basic income in Europe and the US; The
idea of a basic income becomes the political call of a wide, but politically
differently coined movement in Germany; The European Basic Income Movement;
Market liberal and emancipatory approaches to reasoning for and design of a
basic income; Occupation, welfare state and radical democratisation of society
and economy; Public goods, infrastructure and services; Redistribution; Gender
equality; Reduction in use of natural resources; and Global Social Rights.
Ronald Blaschke, From the Idea of a basic income to the political movement in
Europe, The Rosa Luxembourg Foundation Papers,
August 2012
Information about the paper is online at:
http://www.rosalux.de/publication/38626/from-the-idea-of-a-basic-income-to-the-political-movement-in-europe.html
The paper is online at: Papers_Basic-Income_Blaschke-2012pdf.pdf
[BICN - Jenna van Draanen - October 2012]
Ed Broadbent, the former leader of Canadas New Democratic
Party and the founder of the Broadbent Institute, recently wrote an opinion piece in the Toronto Star in response to
a host of austerity policies that are being implemented across Canada.
Broadbent wants to stimulate a national discussion on extreme income inequality
and potential ways to address it.
In terms of solutions, he points to Canadians willingness to pay higher taxes
to protect social programs and calls on the government to take leadership on
reducing inequality. Broadbent includes among the ways to address inequality:
upgrading income security and federal support programs, a progressive taxation
system, and transfers to the provinces. The piece also advocates for the
promotion of jobs, investment in early childhood and post-secondary education,
and protective employment legislation.
Notably, he says we should seriously debate the concept of a Guaranteed Basic
Income that ensures a minimum level of economic security for all and points
out that we already have such a system for seniors through the Guaranteed
Income Supplement. This article concludes by calling on Canadians to use
collective will to demand the major changes to current social and economic
arrangements that will rebalance priorities in a way that works for Canada.
Broadbent, Ed. What kind of Canada do we want? Toronto Star. October 8, 2012.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1267780--what-kind-of-canada-do-we-want
[USBIG – November 2012]
According to the publisher, This exciting and timely
collection brings together international and national scholars and advocates to
provide historical overviews of efforts to pass basic income guarantee
legislation in their respective countries and/or across regions of the globe.
Contributing authors address specific substantive issues such as: who were the
main people and groups involved in support of or against such legislative
efforts; what were the main reasons for the success or failure of BIG-related
initiatives to date; and what the prospects are for the future. Countries
discussed include Australia, Finland, Germany, Iran, Japan, Mexico,
Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the US. The publisher also quotes Greg
Marston, who writes, "This book integrates careful research, political
theory and practical insights in a way that no other volume on the idea of a
basic income guarantee has yet done. Through engaging and thoughtful
presentation of wide ranging national case studies, readers will learn a great
deal about the global state of play. In an age of growing economic insecurity,
the book provides a timely reminder of the possibilities income guarantee
schemes offer for improving social wellbeing."
For more information go to: http://us.macmillan.com/basicincomeguaranteeandpolitics/RichardKCaputo
[Citizens
Income Trust – September 2012]
The latest edition of the Citizens Income Newsletter contains an
editorial, the research note: A Citizen's Income scheme's winners and losers
by Malcolm Torry, a review essay: The message of James Robertson's Future
Money by Conall Boyle, book reviews, a viewpoint: Why Austerity is the Wrong
Answer to Debt by Geoff Crocker, and more.
Citizens Income Trust (UK), The Citizen's
Income Newsletter, Issue 3 for 2012.
http://www.citizensincome.org/
[USBIG – November 2012]
This article argues that basic income is a bold solution that could not only
reduce but actually eliminate poverty.
Dearlove, Cameron, Consider guaranteed annual income to reduce poverty, The Record, 19 October 2012
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/819662--consider-guaranteed-annual-income-to-reduce-poverty
[BIEN Ireland - September 19, 2012]
This new book by Danny Dorling (University of Sheffield) includes an 8-pages
discussion of basic income in the British context. Dorling seems to be very
supportive of the idea, including at EU-level: Imagine how much money would be
saved, he writes, if a basic income one day replaced all the numerous
different benefit and taxation systems existing across the whole of the
European Union. How else could Europe ever have a unified system of social
security to go with its free movement of labor? (p.160).
Dorling, Danny, The no-nonsense guide to
equality, Oxford: New Internationalist. 2012
http://www.dannydorling.org/books/equality/Homepage.html
[USBIG – November 2012]
This article argues the a form of basic income guarantee
would work better than Canadas current poverty-reduction strategies.
Ernst, Kelly, Poverty reduction strategies are wrong-headed, The Record, 23 October 2012
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/821876--poverty-reduction-strategies-are-wrong-headed
[CIT - October 10, 2012]
The World Bank has published a report, The Cash Dividend: The rise of cash
transfer programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Marito Garcia and Charity M. T.
Moore. The authors conclude: Much can already be learned from Sub-Saharan Africas
experience with cash transfer programs. Evaluations of unconditional programs
have found significant impacts on household food consumption (for instance,
Miller, Tsoka, and Mchinji Evaluation Team 2007 for Malawis Social Cash
Transfer Program; Soares and Teixeira 2010 for Mozambiques Food Subsidy
Program); nonfood consumption (for instance, RHVP 2009 for Zambias Social Cash
Transfer); and childrens nutrition and education (including Agero, Carter,
and Woolard 2007 and Williams 2007 for South Africas Child Support Grant). A
recent experimental evaluation found that a program for adolescent girls
conditioned on their school attendance improved enrollment, attendance, and
test scores in Malawi. Unconditional transfers in the same program decreased early
marriage and pregnancy among girls who had already dropped out of school.
(p.8).
Garcia, Marito and Charity M. T. Moore. The
Cash Dividend: The rise of cash transfer programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, The
World Bank 2012.
http://bit.ly/ct4SSA
[Citizens
Income Trust – September 2012]
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a new report, Does the tax and benefit system create a couple penalty? 'The use
of the MIS [Minimum Income Standard] scale, which uses research into minimum
living costs to show greater economies of living in a couple than the official
equivalence scales, suggests that separation penalties are larger and couple
penalties smaller than those scales would suggest. Indeed, it shows no case of
significant couple penalty other than in the scenario where the absent parent
is able to live cheaply in social housing. Moreover, even the official scale
used by the Government (the OECD scale) does not show a clear-cut economic
advantage for families on low earnings to split up. In the single earner cases
shown here, it shows a couple penalty in one scenario, a separation penalty in
three scenarios and no difference in the other three. On the other hand, for a
couple with two earners, it shows a substantial couple penalty in all but one
of the five scenarios looked at here. So an in-work couple penalty can be
identified for a particular group of couples on a particular set of
assumptions. (p.29).
Hirsch, Donald. Does the tax and benefit
system create a couple penalty? The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 18 June
2012
www.jrf.org.uk/publications/tax-and-benefit-couple-penalty
[USBIG –
Nov 2012]
In an obvious reference to Virginia Wolf, author Bill Jordon argues that the
current economic crisis provides are great opportunity for basic income because
there is now widespread recognition that the whole tax and benefit system is
malfunctioning
Jordan, Bill, An income of ones own: the citizens income, Red Pepper October 2012
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/an-income-of-ones-own-the-citizens-income/
[USBIG – November 2012]
This special issue explores new ways of looking at the nature of labor and
society beginning with the topic of Basic Income. The newsletter interviews
Katada about how she thinks this concept opens up new horizons for society.
Kaori Katada is an Assistant Professor, Saitama Prefectural University in Japan
and coeditor of the book Beshikku inkamu to jenda [Basic Income and Gender]
(Gendai shokan, 2011).
Katada, Kaori, Gender Perspectives on Basic Income Center for Gender Studies Newsletter, September 15, 2012.
http://web.icu.ac.jp/cgs_e/2012/09/nl015-p12e.html
[USBIG –
Oct 2012]
In this article, Sascha Leibermann calls the idea of a basic income, simple
and powerful, challenging and disturbing. He introduces the idea, considers
common objections to it, and discusses why it has such a difficult time getting
onto the political agenda even though many of the common objects to it are
unrealistic. Dr. Sascha Liebermann holds a PhD in Sociology. He is Assistant
Professor at Ruhr-University Bochum, Visiting Fellow at ETH Zurich
(Switzerland); Founding member of "Freedom not Full Employment"
(www.freiheitstattvollbeschaeftigung.de) (in 2003), a group of German citizens
arguing for an Unconditional Basic Income.
Leibermann, Sascha, Prospects of an Unconditional Basic Income, Club of Amsterdam Journal, June 2012,
Issue 150
http://www.clubofamsterdam.com/contentimages/journal/print%20journal/print%200150%20Journal%20July%202012.htm
[USBIG – 2012]
This article shows how conservatives' economic hero helped make the case for
a form of basic income guarantee.
Lind, Michael, Thank you, Milton Friedman, Salon.com Aug 7, 2012
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/07/thank_you_milton_friedman/
[USBIG – November 2012]
This opinion piece from the Washington Post favorably discusses basic income in
light of Mitt Romneys erroneous statement, Under Obamas plan, you wouldnt
have to work. You wouldnt have to train for a job. They just send you your
welfare check. The author discusses some of the history of BIG, including the
Tax Cut for the Rest of Us bill, which was authored by two members of the
USBIG Network. The author concludes, All of which is to say that while Mitt
Romney mocks the idea of just sending checks to fight poverty, the idea has an
impressive intellectual pedigree, including among conservatives. Perhaps we
should give just writing checks a shot.
Matthews, Dylan Obama doesnt want to just write welfare recipients checks.
But what if we did? The Washington Post,
August 8, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/08/obama-doesnt-want-to-just-write-welfare-recipients-checks-but-what-if-we-did/
[BI News – October 2012]
This article reviews Keyness 1930 prediction that economic growth would so
make possible the 15-hour workweek. The author, John Quiggin, argues that the
failure of the prediction to come true happened not because of a failure of
economic growth but because of policy decisions that have concentrated the
gains of economic growth on people at the top of the income distribution. As a
part of the solution, he argue for a guaranteed minimum income (another word
for a basic income guarantee). John Quiggin is a professor of economics and the
University of Queensland in Australia. He is the author of Zombie Economics.
Quiggin, John. The Golden Age: The 15-hour working week predicted by Keynes
may soon be within our grasp—but are we ready for freedom from toil? Aeon, 27 September 2012
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/john-quiggin-keynesian-utopiav1/
[BIEN – October 2012]
ABSTRACT: New Zealand is popularly perceived as a laid back place where
individuals might choose to live to enjoy a slower paced life style. However
the reality is that New Zealanders work some of the longest days and the most
hours per annum in the OECD. In this article it is argued that existing legal
mechanisms for limiting work time are rooted in increasingly obsolete work
patterns premised on strong unions and a workforce of permanent full time
employees who are supported by an unpaid female workforce who carry the burden
of reproductive care work. However, in New Zealand, as elsewhere, these legal
mechanisms have been undermined by de-unionization, the emergence of precarious
work, and the growing numbers of women in the workforce. Consequently the
ability of workers to limit their work time has been significantly compromised.
In the final part of the article it is suggested that a Guaranteed Basic Income
could, given the changing nature of work, be a more effective and flexible
mechanism for controlling working time than current law.
Amanda
Reilly is a lecturer at the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Victoria
University of Wellington.
Reilly, Amanda, Time, Work and Law: a New Zealand Perspective
New Zealand Journal of Employment
Relations 37(1)152-160
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1927024
[Aynur Bashirova – BIEN – October 2012]
In this article published in the Hufftington Post, Mike Sandler argues that if
we change the way money enters the economy (it enters as debt owned to private
banks), government of the United States will be able to create Citizens
Dividend and reduce the number of bankruptcies. The author comes to this idea
based on the Ned Act proposed by Dennis Kucinich to abolish Federal Reserve,
fractional reserve banking, prohibit compound interest, and give 25% of money
created to the states. According to him, this will help budget deficits and
help government to save money to give to every citizen of the United States in
the form of the Universal Citizens Dividend. Sandler argues that this new way
of handling economy will allow government to have enough money to give to
actual people who will spend it into circulation. This, in turn, will create
demand, so that employers will start hiring people again.
Sandler, Mike Citizens Dividends: Basic Income from your Share of the
Commons, Hufftington Post, October
3, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-sandler/citizens-dividends-basic-_b_1936182.html?utm_hp_ref=business
[USBIG – November 2012]
According to the publisher, A Basic Income Guarantee (BIG)
is the unconditional government-ensured guarantee that all citizens will have
enough income to meet their basic needs without a work requirement. Significant
questions include: Why should we adopt a BIG? Can the U.S. afford it? Why don't
the current welfare programs work? Why not guarantee everyone a job? Would
anyone work if his or her income were guaranteed? Has a BIG ever been tested?
This book answers these questions and many more in simple, easy-to-understand
language. The publisher also quotes U.S. Senator George McGovern, writing, "This
book is a great idea - brilliantly stated. Some may think it's ultra-liberal,
as they did when I proposed a similar idea in 1972. I see it as true
conservatism - the right of income for all Americans sufficient for food,
shelter, and basic necessities. Or, what Jefferson referred to as life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
For more information go to: http://us.macmillan.com/basicincomeguarantee/AllanSheahen
[USBIG – September 2012]
Here we uses computer simulation from survey data to
estimate the outcomes for a genuine Citizens Income scheme: an unconditional
and nonwithdrawable benefit for every citizen. The aim of the exercise was to
test a variety of schemes. The study finds that by making a small number of
changes to the present system in the United Kingdom, it is possible to
establish a genuine Citizens Income scheme. Malcolm Torry is the director of
the Citizens Income Trust (BIENs UK affiliate) and a parish priest and
industrial chaplain for the Church of England.
Torry, Malcolm Research note: A Citizens Income schemes winners and losers.
The Citizen's Income Newsletter,
Issue 3 for 2012
http://www.citizensincome.org/
[Aynur Bashirova – BI News – September 2012]
In the article published in Winnipeg Free Press, Mary Agnes Welch argues that
an experiment done in Dauphin province of Canada around 40 years ago regarding
the experiment of unconditional basic income was a success and should be
reapplied. The topic was discussed in a conference hosted by Winnipeg Harvest
at University of Manitoba. The experiment provided an unconditional basic
income guarantee to every low-income person in Dauphin whether or not they were
eligible to receive welfare. The results of the Dauphin experiment showed an
improvement in health, a lower high school dropout rate, and people did not
stop working just because they were receiving a guaranteed income. The
experiment was stopped because the government lost interest in it. Welch
further informs that the city of Dauphin is interested in having the experiment
again. However, it does not fit the new strategy of the government that follows
the policy of moving people back to work.
Welch, M. A. An End to the Perpetual War Trap: Guaranteed Incomes Debated. Winnipeg Free Press, August 22, 2012
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/an-end-to-the-perpetual-welfare-trap-167004295.html.
[USBIG – November 2012]
According to the publisher: very year, every Alaskan gets paid. They receive a
small dividend financed by returns on a fund created from the state's resource
revenues – what the authors have called the 'Alaska model.' This timely
book examines how the model can be adapted for use elsewhere, examining issues
of implementation and showing that this model can be employed even in
resource-poor areas in the industrialized and in the industrializing world.
The publisher also quotes Guy Standing, writing "The Alaska Permanent Fund
has reached its 30th anniversary and is one of the world's unsung innovations
in social and economic policy. It offers a route to income redistribution and
prompts realistic thoughts of more ambitious schemes to provide universal basic
income security. This book is an important contribution to what should be a
much more widespread debate about the Fund's role and potential." This
book is the sequel to Alaskas Permanent Fund
Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model, co-edited by Karl
Widerquist and Michael W. Howard (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2012).
For more information go to: http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9781137006592
[USBIG – November 2012]
Matthew Yglesias, Slate's business
and economics correspondent, discusses the basic income guarantee as a more
cost-effective solution to poverty than many current strategies, which he sees
as attempts to use public services as a roundabout mechanism of income
redistribution. Hence the fiasco of Amtrak's money-losing food services line.
Yglesias, Matthew, How To Win The War On Poverty: Recognize That Redistribution
Works, Slate Sept. 15, 2012
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/09/15/tax_and_transfer_win_the_war_on_poverty_with_redistribution_.html
BI News has published the following six opinion pieces since October 1. Theyre all online at: http://binews.org/category/opinion/.
OPINION: A Popular Legislative Initiative for a Guaranteed Citizenship Income
in Spain
Red Renta Bsica ⋅
November 12, 2012
OPINION: Paul Ryan explains simple policy that would end poverty, but does not
support it
By Timothy Roscoe Carter ⋅
November 5, 2012
OPINION: Assessment of the Dutch Elections 2012, No entrance to Basic Income
By Robin Ketelaars ⋅
October 29, 2012
OPINION: Why Austerity is the Wrong Answer to Debt: A Call for a New Paradigm
By Geoff Crocker ⋅
October 15, 2012
OPINION: Funding Citizens Income by Seigniorage: The message of Future Money
from James Robertson
By Conall Boyle ⋅
October 8, 2012
OPINION: Personal reflections on the 14th congress of the Basic Income Earth
Network
By Philippe Van Parijs ⋅
October 1, 2012
[USBIG – November 2012]
Several blogs are currently discussing the basic income guarantee
RiseUpEconomics: We Need to Re-work Work
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/10/1129978/-We-Need-to-Re-work-Work
The Zeitgeist Movement Official Blog: "Basic Income - An immediate step in
the transition"
http://blog.thezeitgeistmovement.com/blog/dario-wurmd/basic-income-immediate-step-transition
Joshua Miller, Another Badly-Aimed Attack on the Basic Income Guarantee from
Crooked Timber, August 9, 2012
http://www.anotherpanacea.com/2012/08/another-badly-aimed-attack-on-the-basic-income-guarantee-from-crooked-timber/
The Digital Journal's blog: "How Practicable Is Basic Income Today?"
http://www.digitaljournal.com/blog/18677
The Heteconomist blog: Greece, Basic Income and the European Left
http:// heteconomist.com/?p=6128
The Progress Report: Local Equity & Citizen Dividends Proposed: Put Toll
Concession Fees In a Permanent Fund For All
http://www.progress.org/2012/tollroad.htm
[BIEN - September 2012]
This opinion piece is published on the website of the French-speaking RTBF, the
Belgian Public Broadcast. Its author, Pierre-Yves Ryckaert, is one of the
founders of the Belgian basic income network, which was recently recognized by
BIEN (September 2012). In this
piece, Ryckaert briefly summarizes some of the core arguments in favour of a
basic income.
Ryckaert, Pierre-Yves (2012), Revenu de base utopie ou ncessit? RTBF Setpember 2012
http://www.rtbf.be/info/opinions/detail_revenu-de-base-utopie-ou-necessite?id=7845325
See also, Belgiums basic income network: http://basicincome.be/
[BIEN - October 25, 2012]
Starting from Amartya Sens ideas about freedom and development, the article
discusses the idea of basic income and its potential to promote both
development and protective security. The theoretical analysis is connected with
the empirical data of the first project that monitored the effects of basic
income on a real community, the village of Otjivero-Omitara in Namibia.
Murra, Emanuele (2012), Basic income, libert e sviluppo per i paesi del Sud
del mondo. Il caso del villaggio di Otjivero-Omitara (Basic Income, freedom
and development to Southern Countries. The case of the village of
Otjivero-Omitara) in M. Signore, L. Cuccurachi (eds.), Libert democratiche e Sviluppo, Pensa Multimedia, Lecce 2012, pp.
177-186.
A pdf copy is available here:
http://unisalento.academia.edu/EmanueleMurra/Papers/1894398/Basic_income_liberta_e_sviluppo_per_i_paesi_del_Sud_del_mondo._Il_caso_del_villaggio_di_Otjivero-Omitara
[BIEN - October 26, 2012]
The book comprises 25 contributions to the basic income debate, representing
different scientific perspectives and an artists essay. All the essays are
devoted to the idea of improving social and personal welfare.
The authors are convinced that the implementation of a basic income could in
both quantitative and qualitative terms contribute immensely to solve
major social problems of our time such as unemployment, poverty, violation of
human dignity, and the unequal distribution of income. Todays labour markets
draw a distorted picture of the exchange of supply and demand for work. The
book presents means and options of turning todays labour markets into
well-functioning markets within a regulatory framework based on a social market
economy. According to the editors the economic impact and degree of
socio-political innovation of the basic income equals Bismarcks reforms of
social legalisation by the end of the 19th century. Therefore, the cover
picture draws the comparison between the Copernican Turn in the 15th century
and socio-political turn in the 21st.
Full references: Werner, Gtz W., Eichhorn, Wolfgang & Friedrich, Lothar
(eds.) (2012), Das Grundeinkommen:
Wrdigung – Wertungen – Wege, Karlsruhe: KIT Scientific
Publishing.
http://www.ksp.kit.edu/
[BIN Italy - October 30, 2012]
A large number of associations, grassroots organisations, social activists and
committees have launched a campaign to propose a popular initiative bill on
guaranteed minimum income in Italy. A new book (entitled Reddito minimo
garantito, un progetto necessario possibile [Guaranteed Minimum Income, a
feasible and necessary project]), that is the result of a research carried out
by BIN Italia and funded by Provincia di Roma, aims at making its contribution
to such campaign. As a matter of fact, the research looks at the experiences of
guaranteed minimum income in force in many European countries, it tells about
the experimentation of implementing a guaranteed minimum income in some Italian
regions, and finally it suggests a possible way to implement a national law on
guaranteed minimum income in Italy by making suggestions and proposals, giving
insights, and providing analyses.
The current situation is that Italy, along with Greece, is the only European country not to have any universal safety net in case of unemployment or work transition. In the midst of the hardest crisis since World War II to the present, of a political and economic impasse whose end is hard to see, it now emerges with strength and determination the need to redefine the very idea of Welfare.
Figures produced and released by the Italian National Statistics and Research Agencies tell about a country that is on the brink of social disaster, a social default that is increasingly showing the need for a new redistributive policy, and therefore, the importance of implementing a guaranteed minimum income, as also many European Resolutions demand.
The book is in Italian and has been produced by a team of researchers including Giuseppe Allegri, Giuseppe Bronzini, Sabrina Del Pico, Sandro Gobetti, Saturnino Salvagni, Luca Santini, Rachele Serino. The book Reddito minimo garantito, un progetto necessario possibile will be available in all major bookstores in Italy from October 25.
Reddito minimo garantito, un progetto necessario possibile
[Guaranteed Minimum Income, a feasible and necessary project], Publisher:
Edizioni Gruppo Abele. Release date: October 25th 2012
http://www.bin-italia.org/
[BIEN - October 10, 2012]
The Mouvement Ouvrier Chrtien (a Christian-democratic organization) in the
province of Luxembourg (Belgium) organizes no less than three conferences on
basic income in October-November 2012,
were held in Libramont. During the first one (October 18, 2012), Yannick
Vanderborght presented the main features of the basic income debate. The second
one (November 8, 2012) was devoted to basic income activism, with a
presentation by Christina Lambrecht from BIEN-Belgium. Finally, the last
conference (November 22, 2012) was introduced by basic income-skeptic Paul
Palsterman, a lawyer within Belgiums main trade union CSC.
For further information: vquinet.moclux@gmail.com
[Red Renta Bsica - November 7, 2012]
The proposal for a universal basic income, namely an unconditional allowance to
the whole population, first appeared several decades ago. The world-wide
organisation, the Basic Income Earth Network consisting of 20 organisations
from as many states, including the Kingdom of Spain, has been working in
support of basic income for 26 years now. The basic income network
(www.redrentabasica.org), the section of the Kingdom of Spain which was founded
in 2001, is holding its Twelfth Symposium in the cultural centre Can Alcover,
in the city of Palma de Mallorca, on 16 and 17 November. The symposium is
organised by the Ateneu Pere Mascaro.
Does it make sense to talk about a basic income in a situation of economic
crisis affecting ever greater numbers of people around the world, including the
badly hit Kingdom of Spain? As some authors have argued, a basic income is even
more desirable in an economic crisis than in boom times. More importantly, a
considerable range of political organisations and some widely supported social
movements, have begun to take an interest in basic income and, understanding
what it represents, are incorporating it in their programmes. To give just one
example, in the last elections in Galicia and the Basque Autonomous Community,
at least three parties included it in their agendas: Bildu and EQUO Berdeak, in
the Basque community, and the newly formed Anova, which performed successfully
in the Galician elections, all champion the proposal in their programmes in
different ways.
Moreover, the very large 15-M protest movement added basic income to its claims
on its first anniversary in May this year. One of the big differences with
regard to the founding programmes drawn up by the movements various assemblies
in May 2011, was the condensation of its demands into just five points: 1) not
one euro more to bail out the banks; 2) quality education and public health; 3)
rejection of job insecurity and the reforms; 4) adequate, guaranteed housing;
and, last but not least, 5) universal basic income.
For further details, please visit: www.redrentabasica.org
[BIN-Italia
– November 2012]
A conference entitled The Right to Work and the Right to Basic Income has been
held at the Council Chamber in the City Hall of Castel Madama, a municipality
in the Province of Rome, Italy, on the 13th November 2012. The event
included a series of speeches given by spokespersons of grassroots social
organisations, members of unions and political parties. The Conference
represented an occasion to release figures and statistical data on job losses,
job cuts and workers' resignation to finding a new job. Also, it included the
screening of the video entitled Se potessi avere... [If I could
have...] which highlights stories and accounts by unemployed, precarious
workers and workers on redundancy payment in the municipality of Castel Madama.
The speakers included Maria Pia Pizzolante who is a spokesperson of TILT
- a grassroots social organisation – Sandro Gobetti who is the
coordinator of BIN Italia, Canio Calitri who is the General Secretary of
the union FIOM-CGIL Lazio, and Paolo Cento who is a member of the
political party SEL - Sinistra Ecologia Libert (Left Ecology Freedom). The presence
of organisations with different political background ensured a balanced
conference where advocates for workers' rights and proponents of basic income
could share their views. The event has been organised by the political party
SEL (Left Ecology Freedom)
For more information go to: http://www.bin-italia.org/
[BIN-Italia
– November 2012]
The
political and cultural association Umbrialeft has organised a meeting entitled
Talk about Guaranteed Minimum Income that was held on the 10th
November 2012 in Spoleto, Italy. The meeting was attended by Sandro Gobetti,
coordinator of BIN Italia and Alessandra Massari who is the coordinator of the
political party SEL - Sinistra Ecologia Libert (Left Ecology Freedom) in
Spoleto. The event has been coordinated by Stefano Vinti.
For more
information go to:
[Simon Birnbaum – BIEN – November 2012]
This event is presented as a two-hour meeting with brief lectures, movie clips,
and open discussion about basic income as an alternative to today's
"activation industry", and its "discrimination of the sick and
the unemployed". The event was organized by the Malm branches of SALO
(Sveriges anstllningslsas landsorganisation), and the basic income group
(Basinkomstgruppen) of Malmo.
For more information (in Swedish) about this and future BI events in Sweden,
see: http://www.facebook.com/events/389060534496761/?fref=ts
Website of BI network in Sweden: http://basinkomst.nu
Website of SALO: http://www.anstallningslos.se/
[BIEN - October 24, 2012]
This debate is organized by the left-wing monthly Pages de gauche, which has
published a special issue on basic income in the Summer of 2012. Guest speakers
include Bernard Friot (Universit Paris X), Gabriel Barta (one of the
proponents of a popular initiative in favour of basic income), Romain Felli
(Pages de gauche) and Yannick Vanderborght (FUSL Brussels and Louvain
University).
Website: http://www.pagesdegauche.ch/
[BIN Italy - October 18, 2012]
A book presentation about guaranteed income was held on Friday 19th of October
at the Bookstore Ferlinghetti in Fermo (Italy). The event will start at 7pm.
There will be two books presentation:
Il reddito di cittadinanza by Giuseppe Bronzini and Reddito minimo garantito, un progetto
necessario possibile by BIN Italia. Both books are published by Edizioni Gruppo
Abele. The author Giuseppe Bronzini will be attending the event. The books presentation
will be followed by a debate. During the event there will be a stall to collect
signatures for the campaign to propose a popular initiative bill on guaranteed
minimum income in Italy.
For more information go to: http://www.bin-italia.org/
[BIN Italy - November 1, 2012]
A debate on guaranteed income and the proposal of a popular initiative bill on
guaranteed income in Italy will be held on Monday 15th October 2012 at Centro
Antidispersione in Andria. The debate will be attended by Luca Santini
(chairman of BIN Italia) and Nicola Fratoianni (Councillor for Youth Policies
in Puglia region). During the event it will be possible to sign the petition for
the popular initiative bill.
For more information go to: http://www.bin-italia.org/
The international conference Universal basic income: for
new social contract in Europe brought together leading theoreticians on UBI
and social welfare state, as well as their main opponents, to offer an open
window for an international discussion and sharing of global experience on this
topic in Slovenia. Feature speakers include, Philippe Van Parijs, author of Real Freedom for All, Joze Mencinger, a
Professor at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Guy Standing, author of The Precariat, and Klaus Sambor,
Secretary General of the European Sustainable Development NGO.
For more information, go to: http://www.inovum.si/ubi/.
See also the video section in this newsletter for several videos from this
event
[BIEN - September 20, 2012]
The HIVA (Research Institute for Work and Society) at Leuven University
(Belgium) organized a lunch seminar with Bruna Augusta Pereira & Marcus
Bracaglione dos Santos, founders of the basic income pilot project ReCivitas.
It was held on 24 september 2012 at noon in Conferentiezaal HIVA (Parkstraat
47, 3000 Leuven).
ReCivitas website: http://www.recivitas.org/
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) held its 14th
international Congress in Munich, Germany on September 14-16, 2012. The
following reflections by Philippe Van Parijs provides a good overview of the
Congress.
Personal reflections on the 14th congress of the Basic Income Earth Network
By Philippe Van Parijs ⋅ October 1, 2012
What did I learn from this splendidly organized gathering of academic and
activists from over thirty countries? As usual, many things. About people and
about things. About facts and about dreams. I discovered, for example, that
Gtz Werner was perhaps even better at reciting Goethe than Eduardo Suplicy at
singing Dylan. I also admired how much progress had been made in the
sophistication of the study of small-scale basic income experiments. Long gone
is the time when all that seemed to be needed was to hand out some cash and
enthusiastically report that all recipients were delighted to get it and that
at least some made laudable use of it. Serious assessments of the effects of
duly specified basic income schemes require control groups of similarly
situated communities who do not receive anything, or who receive the same total
amount but distributed according to different rules. And even the best
assessment of this sort cannot claim to tell us what a real-life basic income
scheme would bring about, if only because the funding side tends to be left
out, or because of the recipients awareness that the experiment is limited in
time, or because the political packaging of a real-life reform is most likely
to affect individual responses. Nonetheless, these experiments are instructive
in all sorts of ways and are well worth the hard work they require: conducting
laborious interviews and processing recalcitrant statistics, sometimes even in
flooded villages, as reported by Guy Standing, with water above the waist and
the laptop above the water.
Ecological sustainability and basic income: three links
In these brief remarks, however, I shall concentrate on two points that struck
me particularly because of they ran through several of the workshops I attended.
The first one is the link between basic income and ecological sustainability,
which featured was central in many presentations and the subsequent exchanges.
On reflection, however, there is not one but there are three such links,
logically independent and profoundly different from each other.
The first link is connected to the theme full employment. In good Keynesian
fashion, an unconditional basic income is sometimes defended on the ground that
it boosts economic growth and thereby employment. Like any other minimum income
scheme, it redistributes from the rich, who save more, to the poor, who spend
more, and it thereby helps sustain effective demand and business confidence.
More often, however, and in contrast to many other schemes, an unconditional
basic income is defended instead on the ground that it provides an alternative to the
pursuit of full employment through economic growth: Freiheit statt
Vollbeschftigung. The underlying idea is that we must manage to tackle
involuntary unemployment in a way that does not rely on a growth of production
that constantly outpaces the growth of productivity, indeed — as
discussed in a fascinating session of our congress — in a way that is
consistent with de-growth. This way consists in transforming both some
involuntary employment and some involuntary unemployment into voluntary
unemployment. Or, to put it differently, some people make themselves sick by
working too much and must be enabled to work less, while others get sick
because of being excluded from work and must be enabled to access the jobs
freed by those working too much. There is one simple way of achieving this: an
unconditional basic income. This is a conclusion reached in the early eighties
by some of the earliest basic income advocates in the context of the first
signs of awareness of the limits to growth. It is also, fundamentally, the
view now held by Baptiste Mylongo and the dcroissants. The recognition of the
right to idleness is here meant as the supply-side, anti-Keynesian, earth-friendly
solution to the problem of unemployment.
The second link passes through the price mechanism. Prices are a handy tool for
guiding both consumption and production. They condense in a single figure
millions of data about the preferences of consumers and the scarcity of factors
of production. But they can go badly wrong because they do not spontaneously
incorporate either the damage inflicted on the environment or the right of
unborn generations to use their share of the resources of the earth. In order to
correct this twofold major defect, some prices must be dramatically increased
to reflect so-called negative externalities and to protect the legitimate
interests of the unborn. One salient example of this is a carbon tax
sufficiently high to keep the total of emissions below the ceiling that should
not be exceed, or equivalently the sale to the highest bidder of carbon
emission permits whose total amounts to this ceiling. In either case, the
consumers will ultimately pay the price, but something must be done with the
huge proceeds. Whether at the world level or at the European level, there is
one simple way, both efficient and fair, of distributing them: an unconditional
basic income. The logic is fundamentally analogous to the equal distribution of
the rent on land advocated in Thomas Paines Agrarian Justice (1796). Three
eco-bonus proposals along these lines were proposed at one of our sessions,
in greatest detail by Ulrich Schachtschneider.
There is, however, yet another quite distinct link between basic income and
ecological sustainability. At its core is the role that will need to be given
to trans-national transfers. Those who make this third link may share with the
dcroissants the view that we in the North need to reduce our consumption.
But they do not conclude that we need to reduce our working time, because there
is no good reason to believe that we should reduce our production as well as
our consumption. This sounds paradoxical but is easy to understand. No one
visiting, for example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo can resist the
conclusion that achieving a decent standard of living for all inhabitants of
the world through local production within a foreseeable future is simply out of
the question. This is so because of a combination of sustained demographic
growth, deeply dysfunctioning and under-resourced administrative, judiciary and
educational systems, and sheer climatic conditions which, in the absence of
unaffordable generalized air conditioning, cannot but keep productivity down in
quite a large number of countries. To believe that fair trade or the end of
exploitation of the South by the North would enable these countries to get
out of trouble is sheer self-serving wishful thinking. The growth of production
in poor countries can and will help, of course, but access to a minimally
decent living standard for all within a foreseeable future cannot count on it
as its main means. It must also count on a massive dose of one or both of two
other means: massive migration to the North and massive transfers to the South.
If the migration of hundreds of millions of Africans to Europe is regarded as
undesirable for both the communities they leave and the communities they join,
only trans-national transfers are left. And to be sustainable at a high level,
such transfers arguably need to be both inter-personal (as opposed to
inter-governmental) and universal (as opposed to means-tested), i.e. take the
form of something like a universal basic income. As was the case with the first
link I mentioned above, sustainability here requires a reduction of consumption
in the North and the introduction of a basic income. But in the first case, the
basic income was there to help increase the leisure enjoyed in the North, and
in the second case to channel wealth to the South. Unlike the former, this
latter argument, frankly, has nothing to do with what triggered my interest in
basic income thirty years ago. But it is closely related to the argument I used
in my contribution to one of the sessions of this congress to explain why the
buffering device needed to save the euro needs to take the form of a universal
basic income.[1]
Universality and unconditionality: the crucial conjunction
The second point I want to mention emerged particularly clearly from the session
that hosted a conversation between Gtz Werner, CEO of the large drugstore DM,
and Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn, member of the Bundestag for the Green Party. A
central part of the background of any discussion on social policy in Germany is
the dramatic reform of the German
welfare state by Gerhard Schrders red-green government known as Agenda
2010 or Hartz IV (2005). By reducing the duration of unemployment benefits,
lowering the average level of social assistance and increasing the pressure on
benefit recipients to seek and accept jobs, it is fair to say that the reform
has improved the competitiveness of the German economy. But in a free trade
area, making one country more competitive means making the other countries less
competitive, and if this free trade area is also a single currency area, this
means, for these other countries, deficits in the balance of trade, persistent
unemployment and a pressure to restore their competitiveness by similarly
scaling down their welfare states. For this reason, Hartz IV is no small factor
in the current crisis of the Eurozone.[2]
Nonetheless, it is also fair to say that nothing ever happened in Germany that
was better than Hartz IV at triggering a lively basic income debate. To
understand why, note, first of all, that about half the recipients of the new
social assistance scheme officially called Arbeitslosengeld II (but
colloquially called Hartz IV) are at work. The reform massively extended the
possibility of the Kombilohn, of low earnings combined with benefits. As such,
this is not something basic income supporters should object to, as it is
inherent in a universal basic income that it would generalize this possibility.
But there is a major difference. Gerard Schrder himself complained that Hartz
IV was misused by employers, as they used it to get workers into lousy jobs,
with harsh conditions, no on-the-job training and no prospects of improvement.
This is precisely why basic income supporters find unconditionality so
important: a benefit granted to (potential) workers irrespective of whether
they are willing to accept a job enhances their bargaining power and enables
them to turn down poorly paid jobs of no intrinsic interest.
Put differently, the universality of the basic income — its not being
means-tested — is what enables a person to say yes to a low-paid job. Its
unconditionality — its not being work-tested — is what enables a
person to say no to a low-paid job. Universality without unconditionality is a
recipe for exploitation, because of the potential misuse of the Kombilohn by
employers. Unconditionality without universality is a recipe for exclusion,
because of the trap created by means-tested handouts. Instead, the conjunction
of universality and unconditionality — so central to the basic income movement
since its inception — is a path to emancipation. How emancipatory it can
be will of course depend on its level. As stressed by Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn,
however, the emancipatory effect starts being produced even with a level of
basic income far below what would be deemed sufficient to live on for ones
whole life, even in a city, even on ones own. Even a much lower universal and
unconditional basic income broadens life options and thereby empowers its
beneficiaries: it can make it realistic, for example, to accept an internship
or an apprenticeship, or to combine further education with a part-time job, or
to take the risk of becoming self-employed or of starting a cooperative, in
situations in which today, in the absence of a basic income, one would be
forced to accept a lousy full-time job.
A partial basic income, i.e. a low but genuinely universal and unconditional
basic income, is therefore one obvious way in which one can move forward. But
there are many others, more or less suited to local circumstances, more or less
achievable in a particular political context, more or less likely to trigger a
sequence of further emancipatory steps rather than unleash a damaging backlash.
To move forward, we must dare to be visionaries, as emphasized by Gtz
Werner, while not hesitating to be opportunists, as demonstrated by Wolfgang
Strengmann-Kuhn. Guided by our vision of a just society and a just world, we
must be on the lookout for political opportunities to get closer to it, without
denying the size of the challenges ahead — not least those arising from
globalization — and without too much optimism about immediate success.
Some good surprises are then bound to come our way
[1] No Eurozone without euro-dividend, downloadable from www.uclouvain.be/8609.
[2] See my response to Gerard Schrders defence of Agenda 2010 on the occasion
of his visit to Brussels in April 2012 : LAgenda 2010: un modle pour
lEurope?, downloadable from www.uclouvain.be/8611
[BIEN – November 2012]
This conference is part of the Council of Europes ongoing project on the fight
against poverty and inequality. Two members of BIENs Executive Committee,
Yannick Vanderborght and Louise Haag, have been invited to participate in this
project. Both will give plenary speeches at this conference, and basic income
will be a major topic of discussion.
For more information go to: http://rights-poverty.eu/conference/
[USBIG – November 2012]
Twelfth Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress: Basic Income and Economic Citizenship
Thursday May 9th to Saturday May 11th, 2013
Sheraton Hotel and Towers, New York City
The Twelfth Annual North American
Basic Income Congress, Basic Income and
Economic Citizenship, will take place in New York City on Thursday, May 9th
through Saturday, May 11th, 2013. The congress is organized by the
U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in cooperation with the Basic
Income Canada Network (BICN/RCRG), and will be held in conjunction with the
Annual Meeting of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA). Attendees at the
North American Basic Income Congress are welcome to attend any of the EEAs
events.
Featured speakers include Carole Pateman, UCLA and Cardiff University, co-author of Basic Income Worldwide: Horizons of Reform; Sheri Berman, Barnard College, author of The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europes
Twentieth Century; Jurgen De
Wispelaere, McGill University, co-editor of The Ethics of Stakeholding; David Casassas, University of Barcelona, co-editor of Basic Income in the Age of Great
Inequalities; James Riccio,
MDRC, co-author of Toward Reduced Poverty Across
Generations: Early Findings from New York City's Conditional Cash Transfer
Program; Darrick Hamilton, The New
School, co-author of Can Baby
Bonds Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America? and Evelyn Forget, University of Manitoba,
author of The Town with No Poverty: A history of the North American Guaranteed
Annual Income Social Experiments.
All points of view are welcome,
and proposals from any discipline are invited. For more information see the
call for papers at: www.usbig.net.
Or contact the congress organizer, Almaz Zelleke of USBIG, at
azelleke@gmail.com.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: November
30th, 2012
The USBIG Network has started a We Pay Campaign for the next
North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress. We Pay allows organizations
like USBIG to collect money from donors for a cause without a formal structure (which
USBIG lacks). The campaign hopes to raise $2,500 to pay part of the travel and
registration expenses for featured speakers, students, or low-income
presenters, and perhaps to host a modest reception during the conference.
You can donate to the We Pay Campaign at:
https://www.wepay.com/x56f1op/donations/usbig-2013-congress
[BIEN – November 2012]
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) has named the Basic Income Canada Network
as the host of the 15th BEIN Congress, which will take place in
Ottawa, Ontario in the spring or summer of 2014. Kelly Ernst, of Sheldon Chumir
Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, will chair the Local Organizing Committee
(LOC). Other members of the LOC include Jurgen de Wispelaere, Kizzy Paris,
Jenna van Draanen, Linda Lalonde, Myron Frankman, Tim Rourke, and Sharon
Murphy. The LOC will name a date and a venue for the conference within the next
six months and release a call for submissions sometime in 2013. For more
information about the organizational efforts that will bring congress into
being in a little more than 18 months, contact: Kelly Ernst
<kernst@chumir.ca>
USBIG - September 22, 2012
This video explains the results of the Indian basic income pilot project. It
includes interviews with participants in the study.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItkZ5b-C3Nw
USBIG - October 18, 2012
European Alternatives has posted an attractive animated video presenting
reasons for Basic Income on YouTube. In English, with Italian subtitles, it is
currently being used to support the Italian campaign for a minimum income.
According to European Alternatives, Anyone is welcome to use and disseminate
the video for our common cause.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxBbi3hlXkU
[USBIG – October 2012]
In this 15-minute video Milton Friedman discusses the Negative Income Tax in an
interview with William F. Buckley. Its posted on the libertarian/conservative
website, LibertyPen.
http://libertypenblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/video-milton-friedman-negative-income.html
[BIEN – October 2012]
This video is 90 minutes long. It includes presentations by Senator Eduardo
Suplicy and two others. It is posed on the website FirstPost.com.
http://www.firstpost.com/topic/place/austria-basic-income-and-its-implementation-in-brazil-eduardo-suplic-video-NLndVviBgmk-138-15.html
[BIEN – October 2012]
This 85-minute video is of a session at the 2012 BIEN Congress in Munich.
Participants include Renana Jabhvala, Guy Standing, abd Shikha Joshi. It was
posted on YouTube by Friedel Hans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6mYSNpcscQ
[BIEN – October 2012]
This 75-minute is from a session at the BIEN Congress in Munich in September
2012. Presenters include Almaz Zelleke, BIEN New York, James Mulvale, BIEN
Executive Committee Canada and Wouter van Ginneken, Divonne-les-Bains, France.
It was posted on YouTube by Friedel Hans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IKbzInMUnc
[BIEN – October 2012]
This 90-minute video is from a Session at the BIEN Congress in Munich, Germany
on September 14, 2012. Participants include Bruna Augusta Perreira, Luis
Henrique da Silva Paiva, Rolf Knnemann, Eduardo Suplicy. It was posted on
YouTube by Friedel Hans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uSb57jHDrA&feature=relmfu
[BIEN – October 2012]
This YouTube channel has dozens of videos on BIG, some in English and some in
German.
http://www.youtube.com/user/videoattac
[BICN – November 2012]
Two videos on Guaranteed Annual (Basic) Income in the Canadian context,
featuring Senator Hugh Segal, can be found on the TVO website:
What Do You Think of "Guaranteed Annual Income"? (2 minutes)
http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/what-do-you-think-guaranteed-annual-income
Politics Around Poverty (49 minutes):
http://ww3.tvo.org/video/184975/politics-around-poverty
Volunteers are needed to write for BI News, the BIEN
NewsFlash, and the USBIG Newsletter. All of the news you read here is written
by a group of volunteers. We need more writers for our team. As a writer you
get: byline, feedback on your writing, and a chance to help the global basic
income movement. If youre interested, please email Karl@widerquist.com
[USBIG – November 2012]
This page on Scoop.it has links to dozens of websites discussing basic income.
Its curated by Bipedal Joe and online at:
http://www.scoop.it/t/basicincome/
[USBIG – November 2012]
This website has several posts on Basic Income: http://cod-democracy.blogspot.com/
Co-chairs:
Ingrid VAN NIEKERK ivanniekerk@epri.org.za,
Economic Policy Research Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Karl WIDERQUIST
Karl@Widerquist.com, Georgetown University, SFS-Qatar
Further details about BIEN's Executive Committee and
International Board as well as further information about the Recognised National Networks can be
found on our website www.basicincome.org
MEMBERSHIP
All life members of the Basic Income
European Network, many of whom were non-Europeans, have automatically become
life members of the Basic Income Earth Network. To join them, just send your
name and address (postal and electronic) to Almaz Zelleke
<azelleke@gmail.com>, Secretary of BIEN, and transfer EUR 100 to BIEN's account 001 2204356 10
at FORTIS BANK (IBAN: BE41 0012 2043 5610), 10 Rond-Point Schuman, B-1040
Brussels, Belgium. An acknowledgement will be sent upon receipt.
BIEN Life-members can become "B(I)ENEFACTORS" by giving another 100
Euros or more to the Network. The funds collected will facilitate the
participation of promising BI advocates coming from developing countries or
from disadvantaged groups.
For a list of members and
B(I)Enefactors go to www.basicincome.org.
News on basic income is posted as it
happens on BInews.org.
BIEN's NewsFlash is mailed electronically every two
months to over 1,500 subscribers throughout the world.
Requests for free subscription are to be sent to bien@basicincome.org.
Items for inclusion or review in future NewsFlashes and BI News are to be sent
to BIENs News Editor, Karl Widerquist.
The items included in BIEN NewsFlashes are not protected by any
copyright.
They can be reproduced and translated at will. But if you use them, please
mention the existence and address of the Basic Income Earth Network (including
its web site www.basicincome.org) and the exact references of the events or
publications concerned. Thank you.