Category: Basic Income

What is Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

What is Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

Universal basic income (UBI) is known by a variety of names in different countries and continents. Among the more popular are basic income, citizen’s income, unconditional basic income, basic income guarantee, universal demo grant, and UBI. This represents a type of social security welfare program and safety net. In it, all residents or citizens of a nation periodically receive an amount of money which the government or another public institution gives them unconditionally. They receive this on top of and regardless of any other income they earn from work or investment returns. When the money is given out to […]

India might be launching the greatest economic experiment in history

Rising inequality and fears about technological unemployment — or at least robots driving wage stagnation — have helped revive talks about the merits of governments providing a universal basic income. (Full disclosure: I am curious but skeptical .) Many new experiments are underway to take a fresh look at the old idea. Finland has a pilot program, for instance. So does startup accelerator Y Combinator as many techies have been pondering how the rise of robots will effect workers. A crowded street in downtown New Delhi, India. Credit: Twenty20 But none of these small, limited experiments can match what […]

Union Budget 2017: Will go for universal basic income when Indian politics matures: Arun Jaitle

Union Budget 2017: Will go for universal basic income when Indian politics matures: Arun Jaitle

Finance minister Arun Jaitley says for universal basic income to come into practice, the existing set of subsidies will have to go.

Edited excerpts:

Before you give the budget there was a lot of discussion on a scheme called universal basic income. Even your Chief Economic Adviser had an entire chapter devoted to the need for universal basic income. Is that idea still in the table or what are your thoughts on that? I think Arvind Subramanian’s idea which of course is now being globally discussed is a wonderful idea. Mahatma Gandhi also liked it. And in the economic survey […]

Report shows gap in financial knowledge

Report shows gap in financial knowledge

Image for Report shows gap in financial knowledge A gap in financial knowledge could impact the retirement savings of a huge number of people, according to a new report from MetLife UK.

The report, Guaranteeing Real Pension Freedom, showed nearly half (45%) of over-40s are concerned that a lack of guaranteed income choices is driving people to take risks with their money.

It also found one in five retirement savers (20%) don’t fully understand the choices they face, which would help them receive the level of retirement income guarantee they are looking for.The report suggests the Government’s plan to launch […]

UBI | Pockets to fill, mouths to feed

UBI | Pockets to fill, mouths to feed

Arvind Subramanian and Arun Jaitley have a many-mouthed country to feed with the national wealth. They must work out how to ensure that along with putting money in people’s pockets, food is also put in their mouths. | PTI Intelligent men make us think. Arvind Subramaniam has given us much food for thought with his ideas on Universal Basic Income.

In essence, he argues that instead of convoluted subsidies, freebies and handouts, it is far more efficient to just give poor people money in the form of guaranteed basic income — to the tune of anywhere between Rs.10,000 and Rs.15,000 […]

Ben Gummer: Utopia will never exist no matter what ‘Petit Ben’ may tell us about taxing robots

Ben Gummer: Utopia will never exist no matter what ‘Petit Ben’ may tell us about taxing robots

French socialist Benoit Hamon’s views on Utopia do not find favour with Ipswich MP Ben Gummer . Photo: AP Ipswich MP Ben Gummer’s weekly column looks at why the French Socialist Party is wide of the mark with its ideas of Utopia

I have a new namesake in politics – this time in France. On Sunday Benoît Hamon gained the candidacy of the French Socialist Party, a feat as remarkable as the capture of our own Labour Party by Jeremy Corbyn and the Republican nomination of Donald Trump.

Many false generalisations about the political mood have been made in the last […]

AUDIO: Basic Income – An idea whose time has come?

AUDIO: Basic Income – An idea whose time has come?

Photo: Nick Pearce. Credit to: Bristol Festival of Ideas.

In this audio recording of a conversation, in front of a live audience at the Bristol Festival of Ideas on the 17 th of November, 2016, Louise Haagh , Anthony Painter , Nick Pearce and Torsten Bell discuss the pros and cons of the basic income idea, chaired by Jonathan Derbyshire .

In this talk, Anthony Painter, the Director of the Action Research Center at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), starts by describing what he calls the “gig economy” (one economy driven by tasks, not […]

Chicago Council on Global Affairs – Basic Income: Freedom or Folly

Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Conference Center 130 East Randolph Street, First Floor Chicago, IL 60601

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has generously discounted tickets for current Kellstadt Graduate School of Business students to attend their signature events. If you would like to attend, please email Registration@thechicagocouncil.org stating you are a KGSB student and what event you are interested in attending. They will then provide you with the appropriate promo code to enter when registering. After receiving the promo code from Chicago Council on Global Affairs you will need to create an account/log in via the Chicago […]

The Guardian view on basic income: a worthwhile debate, not yet a policy | Editorial (theguardian.com)

The Guardian view on basic income: a worthwhile debate, not yet a policy | Editorial (theguardian.com)

"Theory is easier than practice. Set the basic income too low, and far from empowering workers, it could act as a wage subsidy, allowing employers to hold salaries down, as many argue happened with tax credits. Too high, and while it might transform power relationships in the workplace, giving people the freedom to turn down low-paid work, it might prove a disincentive to working altogether. And that’s before we consider how it might be paid for."

Matt Booth

Unemployment is still quite high. If UBI was a reality, I’d work less then I do now. The company I work for is […]

India floats the idea of a universal basic income

India floats the idea of a universal basic income

Basic needs NOVEMBER 8th was not just the day of Donald Trump’s election. It was also when Indians found out most banknotes would lose all value unless promptly exchanged. Ever since, many have expected their patience in enduring the ensuing chaos to be rewarded in some way. Might scrapped cash unredeemed by presumed tax-dodgers be recycled into a lump-sum payment to each and every citizen? Or would the annual budget, presented on February 1st, be full of giveaways ahead of a string of state elections? In the event, the budget was restrained to the point of dullness. But the […]