Category: Basic Income

The George Coles building in Charlottetown, P.E.I., where the legislature is currently sitting. (Kerry Campbell/CBC) P.E.I.’s efforts to work out a partnership with the federal government in order to create a universal basic income pilot project have been unsuccessful so far.

In December, the P.E.I. Legislature voted unanimously in favour of Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker’s motion to attempt to partner with the federal government order to create a basic income pilot project on P.E.I.

Government provided an update Thursday on its efforts. The written update indicates that Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy contacted federal Families, Children and Social […]

Full Post at www.cbc.ca

Charlie Young, an economics writer who has worked at the UK think tank New Economics Foundation , has contributed an article on basic income to the online journal Evonomics. In the piece, he proposes a categorization system to help make sense of some of the main sources of variations between basic income schemes.

As Young points out, “universal basic income” is not a single proposal. Instead, the label encompasses a broad set of proposals that are not mutually compatible in practice, even though they are related in a more abstract conceptual or philosophical sense. For this reason, it does not […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

They could always copy the British. Savings accounts are allowed, but you can only save a certain amount (£6000 last time I checked) before your UBI starts getting cut. It’s great for the banks, but next to useless for anyone on welfare or in the working classes (For me it’s three months rent, food and bills, at best).

Rich people will just put their extra money into a trust so they can keep getting the full UBI while still having access to the rest of their money. still others attempt to introduce new feedback loops into the economy and restructure […]

Full Post at bbs.boingboing.net

There has been an increasing amount of talk in the last few years about a universal basic income (UBI). The idea, also known as a citizen’s income, is that every individual receives an unconditional, automatic and non-withdrawable income as a right of citizenship, regardless of gender, wealth, employment status or age.

Not only is UBI seen as a potential route to helping the world’s poorest people out of poverty, but with the prospect of automation and robots replacing individuals in the workforce, influential tech leaders such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk are putting their weight behind it as a […]

Full Post at economia.icaew.com

Written by: Rahul Basu

A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without mean-test or work requirement. A Universal Minimum Income (UMI) would be a UBI set at a level to ensure everyone has at least a minimum income sufficient to keep body and soul together. This would engender personal freedom. If we add to this public health & education, and other targeted benefits for the disabled for example, it would be a wonderful situation. What would it take?

The math is simple. If we have to pay out a UBI […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

As the debate about basic income heats up around the world, two documentary filmmakers are trying to bring the human element to the forefront.

Deia Schlosberg and Conrad Shaw are producing an ambitious documentary, “Bootstraps – A Basic Income Film”, that will follow a group of real people around the United States who will receive a basic income for two years.

I recently interviewed Schlosberg and Shaw as part of the new BI News Podcast series. Schlosberg said she wanted to do something different from existing basic income documentaries.“I didn’t want to make another film that was just describing it and […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

We are a quarter of the way through 2017 and this year is sadly shaping up to be no better than 2016, despite everyone’s wishes. Wars are being fought overseas and politicians are making seemingly crazy decisions the world over. It’s enough to make you crestfallen.

Though things aren’t as bad as they seem, if you just take a look at history — and that’s what historian Rutger Bregman does in his book, Utopia For Realists .

"I studied history at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and I always had the idea that I wanted to do a PhD, but then […]

Full Post at www.huffingtonpost.com.au

In India, it is not unusual for the rich to receive more welfare money than the poor. As India’s Finance Ministry noted in its annual economic survey released in January, the problem is “almost intrinsic” to the country’s anti-poverty and social programs . Much of the money is funneled through India’s convoluted bureaucracy and ends up “leak[ing] to non-poor and…corrupt local actors.” But a new idea, the ministry suggests, could ensure that funds for the poor actually reach the poor: a universal basic income.

The decision to simply hand out cash to everyone is not new and, of course, quite […]

Full Post at www.foreignaffairs.com