Category: Basic Income

Improvements to social services are needed but people in Brantford and Brant aren’t entirely convinced that a basic income is the answer.

That’s one of the many findings of two public information sessions organized by Brant social services staff in recent weeks.

Some who attended the sessions believe improvements to the current system of income support are needed, said Susan Evenden, director of social assistance and homelessness services Ontario Works Brant.But opinions are divided as to whether a basic income or similar program would be the appropriate solution, she added.The provincial government announced last year plans to conduct a […]

Full Post at www.brantfordexpositor.ca

Sarah Gardner, a reporter for Marketplace , published three articles in December 2016 on the topic of universal basic income (UBI): How to support yourself after the robot revolution , Finland to test a basic income for the unemployed , and On the Canadian prairie, a basic income experiment .

In How to support yourself after the robot revolution , Gardner describes the prediction of Lawrence Summers, Former Undersecretary of International Affairs, that by the middle of the 21st century, one third of men between the ages of 25 and 54 will be out of work. The reason is automation.

Sam […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

Why do poor people make so many bad decisions? It’s a harsh question, but look at the data: poor people borrow more, save less, smoke more, exercise less, drink more and eat less healthily. Why?

Margaret Thatcher once called poverty a “ personality defect ”. Though not many would go quite so far, the view that there’s something wrong with poor people is not exceptional. To be honest, it was how I thought for a long time. It was only a few years ago that I discovered that everything I thought I knew about poverty was wrong.

It all started when […]

Full Post at www.theguardian.com

"The Greens have long advocated a flat unconditional payment or “basic income” to all citizens; an idea which has since gained traction elsewhere." Yes! It’s time to seriously investigate this. What do you think of the idea? Government urged to tackle zero hours contracts with universal basic income independent.co.uk But how on earth would we then be able to afford our nuclear weapons, nuclear submarines, vanity projects like HS2 & HS3, future wars (both declared and covert), tax cuts for the 1%, repairs to Buckingham Palace, subsidies to oil, gas and nuclear energy companies?

It’s only ‘unaffordable’ if you want […]

Full Post at outdonews.com

Sure, but the whole point here is that (possibly soon) we won’t need any human labor at all, or at least very very little. Do you want to just make up jobs (dig hole, fill back in)? Or do you want to take the fruits of that innovation and just hand enough out that people can pursue what they want?

Your call. But it’s not a Protestant ethic issue – if there’s no useful work to do, there’s no moral reason to work.

-W This is a huge issue in Sweden nowadays. The job market in Sweden is very competitive and […]

Full Post at forum.mrmoneymustache.com

Improvements to social services are needed but people in Brantford and Brant aren’t entirely convinced that a basic income is the answer.

That’s one of the many findings of two public information sessions organized by Brant social services staff in recent weeks.

Some who attended the sessions believe improvements to the current system of income support are needed, said Susan Evenden, director of social assistance and homelessness services Ontario Works Brant.But opinions are divided as to whether a basic income or similar program would be the appropriate solution, she added.The provincial government announced last year plans to conduct a basic […]

Full Post at www.delhinewsrecord.com

Credit to France24

France24 hosted a 45-minute debate, moderated by François Picard, on the topic of automation and the labour market. In the context of the Brexit vote and the Donald Trump election, the programme claims, some have “blamed immigrants [for] stealing jobs and undercutting wages.” An alternative explanation is that automation is the major factor, and whether or not automation will “destroy the labour market” was the main subject of the debate.

The discussion covered the Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiment in Finland, and some debaters saw the merits of a UBI. When asked by the moderator why r […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

The objective of the analysis carried out in 2016 was to assess different models for a universal basic-income experiment.

The purpose of this basic-income trial was to find ways to reshape social security in response to changes in the labour market. The experiment also explored how to make the system more empowering and more effective in terms of providing incentives for work. Further objectives included the reduction of bureaucracy and the streamlining of the complicated benefits system.

Sitra participated in the project by providing the consortium with guidance on ways to anticipate future developments in society. As part of the project, […]

Full Post at www.sitra.fi