Category: Basic Income

Scotland looks set to be the first part of the UK to pilot a basic income for every citizen, as councils in Fife and Glasgow investigate trial schemes in 2017. The councillor Matt Kerr has been championing the idea through the ornate halls of Glasgow City Chambers, and is frank about the challenges it poses.

“Like a lot of people, I was interested in the idea but never completely convinced,” he said. But working as Labour’s anti-poverty lead on the council, Kerr says that he “kept coming back to the basic income”.

Kerr sees the basic income as a way of […]

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"This method of dealing with thieves [hanging] is both unjust and socially undesirable. As a punishment it’s too severe, and as a deterrent it’s quite ineffective. No penalty on earth will stop people from stealing, if it’s their only way of getting food. Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody’s under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse" – Sir Thomas More (English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist)

Prisoners receive food, clothing, and […]

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The Economic Security Project (ESP), a two-year initiative established in December 2016 to fund projects related to the study and implementation of basic income in the United States, is preparing to host its first public conference.

The conference, called the Cash Conference , will take place on October 19 at the San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California. Established in 1874, the San Francisco Mint is said to have held nearly one third of nation’s wealth in its heyday, according to the venue’s website . The mint ceased its operations in 1937, and now functions as an event venue.

ESP […]

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Finnish Flag / AFP When the Finnish government made this decision, it caused ripples in every latitude of the planet. In late 2015, the cabinet of the conservative Prime Minister, Juha Sipilä, announced their intention to experimentally implement, between 2017 and 2018, a pilot program of universal basic income, which would cost 20 million euros. This initiative was backed by their Parliamentary allies: the Center Party and the nationalist party: the True Finns. This had a dramatic effect to revitalize the image of the dying European social democracy, which was at the time lacking ideas to combat the growing […]

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RIGA, Aug 26 (LETA) – The new political party called The Movement For! and established in Latvia today is for introduction of the universal basic income, upgrading of the economy, accessible health care and against state capture, according to the short version of the party’s program approved at the foundation congress.

"We are for Latvia which has opportunities for everyone. We are for a free individual. We believe that everyone has the right to make own choices and to bear responsibility for one’s decisions. We are for a consolidated society that eradicates poverty and encourages excellence," the document said.

The Movement […]

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If everyone in Ireland was given €800 a month, what would it do to the economy? Would it result in more people ‘dropping out’ or would it lead to greater entrepreneurial activity? Frances Coppola examines the subject.

Many countries are experimenting with Universal Basic Income. Finland, the first European country to do so, is giving 2,000 of its citizens €560 every month for two years. Five months into the experiment, the people receiving the money are reporting less stress, a greater desire to find work and more time to pursue business ideas.

However, would it work in Ireland and […]

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David Seymour debates on The Nation. Credits: Video – The Nation; Image – Getty ACT says if it helps form the next Government, beneficiaries who "keep having children" will have their financial freedom taken away.

Speaking during a minor party leaders’ debate on Saturday morning, leader David Seymour said having babies while on the benefit was an "outrage" to working parents, and "the biggest driver of child poverty in this country".

"What the ACT Party says is there should always be a safety net for people whose partners abuse them or run out on them, or any number of circumstances that […]

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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during a rally at Quadrant shopping centre in Coatbridge. (Jane Barlow/PA Wire) JEREMY CORBYN will pledge to protect the free bus pass as he meets pensioners on the latest leg of his tour of Scotland.

The UK Labour leader will be in Fife where he will restate his party’s commitment to the concessionary travel scheme the day after a consultation was launched on raising the age at which Scots can obtain the bus pass.

The Scottish Government is proposing to increase the age of eligibility amid rising numbers of older people and a £9.5 million […]

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