Author: automata

Guaranteed Income Program for SF Artists Gets Expanded Thanks to $3.5M Gift From Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey

Guaranteed Income Program for SF Artists Gets Expanded Thanks to $3.5M Gift From Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey is continuing to do nice things with his wealth, and on Friday we learned that his charitable group #StartSmall is giving $3.46 million to San Francisco’s pilot program to give local artists $1,000 per month in guaranteed income.

Mayor London Breed announced the stipend program for SF artists back in October , as part of a slate of initiatives spearheaded by the SF Economic Recovery Task Force (ERTF). The program is being administered by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), and on Friday, YBCA announced on Twitter (obviously) that Dorsey’s charity had provided the gift to expand […]

NY Senator John Liu says Andrew Yang is ‘our Shirley Chisholm’

NY Senator John Liu says Andrew Yang is ‘our Shirley Chisholm’

“He is our Shirley Chisholm,” said Liu of Yang during his speech outside a City Hall rally on Monday.

New York’s mayoral candidates are winding down and Andrew Yang is receiving mega support.

The former presidential candidate has allies across New York City and with recent endorsements may have become a frontrunner who could very well win the race. According to State Senator John Liu , Yang is their Shirley Chisholm . State Senator John C. Liu answers questions from reporters as he stands next to New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang during a rally at City Hall Park in […]

Bengal Cabinet approves 3 schemes promised in TMC poll manifesto

Bengal Cabinet approves 3 schemes promised in TMC poll manifesto

Kolkata, May 24 (PTI) The West Bengal Cabinet on Monday gave its approval for implementation of a monthly income support scheme for eligible families and two other programmes promised in the election manifesto of the Trinamool Congress, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

The Cabinet also gave the green signal to introduce a new credit card scheme for all eligible students to pursue higher education, as well as the programme of free doorstep delivery of monthly ration to 1.5 crore households.

A proposal to recruit 2,500 people in the Kolkata Police force has also got the go-ahead from the Cabinet, […]

San Francisco’s Program to Pay Artists $1K Per Month Has Been Extended and Expanded

San Francisco’s Program to Pay Artists $1K Per Month Has Been Extended and Expanded

A street art mural in San Francisco, which comments on economic inequality, police bias, and the housing crisis in the city. (via San Francisco will extend and expand its recently launched Guaranteed Income Pilot for artists, which provides monthly payments of $1,000 to local artists, thanks to a $3.46 million donation from tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey.

Launched in March, the Guaranteed Income Pilot was set to provide recurring payments over a period of six months to 130 San Franciscan artists. The pilot program was conceived and supported by the Office of Racial Equity at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, […]

Twitter C.E.O. Jack Dorsey Just Gave $3.5 Million to San Francisco’s Experimental Program Offering Guaranteed Income for Artists

Twitter C.E.O. Jack Dorsey Just Gave $3.5 Million to San Francisco’s Experimental Program Offering Guaranteed Income for Artists

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Guaranteed Income Pilot. Courtesy of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. As San Francisco prepares to begin offering guaranteed income for artists, Twitter C.E.O. Jack Dorsey has donated $3.46 million to the pilot program through his charity #StartSmall.

News of the gift came as the city announced the inaugural cohort of 130 recipients, all of whom were set to receive $1,000 a month for six months. But thanks to the new funding, the program will now be expanded to run for a year and a half, and payments will be extended to an […]

Flat fees to be axed on pensions worth £100 or less, to avoid disaster of charges swallowing up workers’ entire pots by retirement

Flat fees to be axed on pensions worth £100 or less, to avoid disaster of charges swallowing up workers' entire pots by retirement

Flat fees on work pension pots worth less than £100 are to be abolished to prevent them dwindling to nothing over time.

The Government move is aimed at avoiding the disastrous prospect of people who have moved jobs and acquired many small pots during their working lives discovering they are empty when they reach retirement, having been eroded by charges.

The reputation of the so far hugely successful auto enrolment initiative to get people saving for old age could suffer a huge hit if workers belatedly found their entire pots had been swallowed by fees. Small pot problem: Flat fee ban […]

Universal Basic Income: the Path to Dystopia

Universal Basic Income: the Path to Dystopia

Once a radical idea, Universal Basic Income has entered the mainstream. Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang spoke about it during his campaign, it has become a key policy proposal in sections of the progressive left, and more recently, some of the wealthiest people in Silicon Valley have become its champion. I can understand why: the stated purpose of UBI – to alleviate (or even abolish) poverty – is a noble and worthy cause. In a world where the jobs being lost to automation are more numerous than the new jobs being created (or where well-paid jobs are being replaced by […]

Wales’ UBI pilot is to be welcomed – but I fear the government’s piecemeal plans will fail

Wales’ UBI pilot is to be welcomed – but I fear the government’s piecemeal plans will fail

Opinion Mark Drakeford picture by CPMR – Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CC BY-SA 2.0). John Ball, former lecturer in economics at Swansea University

Not surprisingly, the Welsh Government’s announcement of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot scheme has been welcomed.

But any scheme, whether dressed as a pilot or truthfully an experiment, must be carefully constructed such that its outcome is measured and useful policy ideas result. I worry that this will not be the case here.A fundamental understanding is needed of the philosophy and practice of UBI. It is a universal payment available unconditionally to all. It is […]

What Has Changed since George Floyd’s Death?

What Has Changed since George Floyd's Death?

The year following George Floyd’s murder unearthed a lot of pain. That much is plain. And while we harbor no naïve illusions that reimagining how we deliver true public safety will be easy or quickly accomplished, I believe the year provided victories to fuel the long fight ahead.

The crime against Mr. Floyd sharpened public focus on a policing system infected with violence, which has devalued and destroyed Black lives, and has imposed its heavy hand on millions of people of all races and ethnicities (10.5 million people are arrested every year in the United States). There is widespread commitment […]

Why Starmer Should Follow Drakeford on Basic Income

Why Starmer Should Follow Drakeford on Basic Income

Following a victorious reelection earlier this month, Wales’ first minister, Mark Drakeford, announced his intention to abandon the welfare rulebook and try Basic Income (UBI). It is paid regularly to all citizens, regardless of wealth or circumstances. – – Reportedly The first focus is on long-term care leave.

Hartlepool’s Labor candidate Paul Williams, who performed far worse than Drakeford in this month’s elections, said I have written After his defeat, voters don’t know what Keir Starmer stands for. Drakeford’s move towards basic income is timely and wise, and Starmer listens to concerns raised by Williams and countless others by […]