by Toru Yamamori | May 31, 2022 | Events, News
Malcolm Torry will present his paper titled “Basic Income: A brief history of the idea”. Discussion will follow.
Abstract:
A Basic Income is ‘a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement’ (Basic Income Earth Network [BIEN]). It is always that: but within that definition there has been a significant number of variants during the past two centuries—in relation to how often, how much, to whom, and so on. This paper will explore those variants and the reasons for them, both historically and in the context of today’s lively global debate.
The paper will also discuss those tax and benefits policies that are sometimes regarded as variants of Basic Income but in fact are not, and will briefly outline their histories, their relevance to the history of ideas of Basic Income, and their relationship to the current debate.
The full paper is available here.
The forum will be held via zoom. All are welcome. For the link to zoom, please send email to: cbidbien@gmail.com.
The “Clarification of the Basic Income’s Definition” (CBID) working group is an official working group of BIEN established by the BIEN General Assembly 2019 held in Hyderabad, India. The 1st , 2nd , and 3rd open forums were held during BIEN Congress 2021 in Glasgow, the 4rd open forum was held in October 2021, and the 5th was held in April 2022.
by Enno Schmidt | May 25, 2022 | Events, News
FRIBIS (Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies) and BIEN (Basic Income Earth Network) invite you to a Global Basic Income Dialogue with experts on the UBI via a Zoom-meeting on 3 June 2022.
6 p.m. CEST / 9 a.m. PDT / 5p.m. GMT / 9:30 p.m. IST
Gisèle Huff, a U.S. philanthropist supporter of UBI, will be interviewed by Enno Schmidt of FRIBIS and Otto Lehto of FRIBIS and New York University will be interviewed by BIEN chair, Sarath Davala. Each conversation will be followed by 15 minutes of Q&A with FRIBIS students.
For detailed agenda and speakers, click here. To receive a Zoom link to participate send an email to enno.schmidt@vwl.uni-freiburg.de.
by Peter Knight | May 22, 2022 | Events, News
In a few short weeks, June 23-25, the biggest annual North American event for basic income will be taking place: the 20th Annual Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) Conference! Click for access to registration, the full program and more information. June 23 and 24 sessions will be live in Portland, Oregon and the June 25 (Saturday) sessions will be virtual.
Whether you’re someone working in the economic justice space who wants to deepen their understanding of basic income policy or a grassroots advocate who is just starting to learn about basic income, this is an amazing opportunity to get plugged into the community and benefit from the knowledge of the past year’s incredible strides for direct cash.
by Guest Contributor | May 22, 2022 | Events, News
ECI-UBI Press Release
Basic Income advocates launched a SignStorm action aimed to get extra support for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Start Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI) throughout the EU” before the campaign’s end on 25 June 2022.
The UBI Europe General Assembly on 21st of May in Prague, Czech Republic, following the statement of the coordinators of the ECI, decided to support the SignStorm campaign.
“Italy is a few signatures away from reaching the threshold, let’s push other countries to follow our lead” said Michele Gianella, Italy’s coordinator of the ECI.
Last chance to sign!
“UBI is called a life jacket for both individuals and society… you can no longer wait with UBI. There is no longer a question of whether, only a question of how. This became clear already at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic”, the statement says.
To be successful, the ECI should collect at least 1 million signatures (statements of support) while at least 7 countries should exceed their national threshold. After that the proposal must be discussed by the European Commission.
The SignStorm statement emphasizes that the ECI ( www.sign.eci-ubi.eu ) is also a message for EU member state governments and therefore each signature counts.
Currently, it has 225 581 signatures (21 May at 15:00 CET) but as advocates say: surprises cannot be excluded.
by Peter Knight | May 20, 2022 | Events, News
This primer was developed by the Asset Funders Network (AFN) to educate foundations, individual donors, and other funders about the ways in which guaranteed income and related cash-based policies not only strengthen low and moderate income communities and communities of color, but also build a healthy and more resilient economy for us all.
Guaranteed Income pilots have been increasing in number rapidly over the past few years. In early 2022, there were more than 90 demonstrations planned or in progress in the United States. The majority of these have relied primarily on philanthropic funding, although there is an increase in public funding, primarily through use of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Most pilots are intended to help build support for a federal basic income, but are usually targeted on specific groups due to limitations in funding and support. Click here to access a webpage with a short presentation and links to a larger primer and the recording of a webinar held on 18 May 2022.
by Peter Knight | May 16, 2022 | Events, News
Karl Widerquist is hosting a workshop series that will feature lectures by international guest speakers from the field of basic income research. Detailed Information and the Live-Stream-Link you can find below.
The series began on May 10 2022 with talks by Simon März, Jurgen De Wispelaere and Simon Birnbaum.
The next workshop will be held May 31 at at 16:00-18:00 German time (UTC+2) with talks by Paul Niehaus, Jurgen De Wispelaere, and Joe Crisp.
For details on the series, including dates, times, speakers, and YouTube stream links, click here.
