Category: Basic Income

Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland (CBINS) launch event in Kelty, Fife

Fife Council is embarking on a pilot study to test out the concept of a Citizen’s Basic Income (CBI) and this was a public engagement meeting to gather citizens’ input at the start of that process along with keynote speakers from academia, political parties and the Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland , who were hosting this event at the brand new Kelty Community Centre in Fife. We livestreamed the whole event and can present the content of the morning and afternoon sessions in full spread across the 16 […]

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The French Socialist Party has elected a pro-basic income politician, Benoît Hamon, as its candidate for the presidential election this spring.

Benoît Hamon, the left-wing politician who has gained considerable media attention in recent months for his basic income proposal, has won the Socialist Party presidential nomination. He comfortably beat rival and former prime minister Manuel Valls by 58.9% to 41.1%, after his surprise win in the first round .

“Universal basic income is a tool to liberate work, allowing people to actually choose their work and not suffer from it” Hamon declared yesterday in his speech to supporters after […]

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(Credit to: THe Freepress Journal) Anjit Ranade, senior economist based in Mumbai, writes in The Free Press Journal that a direct universal cash benefit “can replace ill-targeted subsidies on cooking gas, fertiliser and food grain,” under India’s current welfare system.

4.2% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on subsidies: electricity, fertilizer, food, oil, rail, and water. Many of the subsidies do not make their way to the purported beneficiaries because they are untargeted. Ranade reports, targeted subsidies can use the subsidies better.

Vijay Roshi , Reader in Economics at Oxford University, is an early supporter of UBI for […]

Full Post at basicincome.org

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on Wednesday present his fourth and perhaps the most challenging Budget that may look to soften blow of currency ban with tax and other sops as he seeks to revive growth.

While largely sticking to fiscal consolidation roadmap, Jaitley will present the Budget for 2017-18 amid strong headwinds caused by government decision to invalidate 86 per cent of the currency and the newly elected US President making protectionist noises.

Topping the list of sweeteners could be the hike in Income Tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh from […]

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PARIS: France’s Socialists face a stark choice in Sunday’s presidential primary between diehard leftist Benoit Hamon and reformist ex-prime minister Manuel Valls.

Hamon, the surprise winner of the first round of the Socialists’ primary last weekend, has wooed voters with his staunchly leftist proposals, notably the idea of a universal basic income, dismissed as a "mirage" by Valls.

He also wants to legalise marijuana and tax robots that replace workers.The 49-year-old Hamon, round-faced with a schoolboy haircut, has a crowd-pleasing eagerness that contrasts with the square-jawed assertiveness of Valls, 54, who was interior minister before becoming premier.Hamon joined a rebellion against […]

Full Post at www.thenews.com.pk

I fear this budget . I fear that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce an idea that I have liked and advocated: The idea of a Universal Basic Income. I fear it because Jaitley may use this label to justify something quite the opposite. In the process, he might ruin a good idea.

Straws in the wind indicate that he might try something to this effect. Demonetisation was part of a grand political design of Garibi Hatao , version 2.0. The idea was to give a nicely wrapped gift to all the poor and engineer an enduring realignment of poor […]

Full Post at www.firstpost.com

Alex Rowley speaks at Saturday’s event. Fifers could be paid a basic income in the next two to three years under a pilot of a radical alternative to the current welfare system.

An area of the kingdom could be used as a test for the system, which would see everyone paid a flat sum by the government.

The pay out would be enough for the basic essentials of life.Extensive discussions have already been held with the Scottish and UK governments about the pilot and Fife Council depute leader Councillor Lesley Laird said there was political will to make it happen.At a […]

Full Post at www.thecourier.co.uk

Donald Trump is an international disgrace.

His imposition of “enhanced security measures” this weekend meant citizens from seven countries with a history of terrorism were suddenly banned from entering the USA. The 5-year-old son of an Iranian passport-holder was detained on his own for hours at Dulles airport. Twelve refugees fleeing persecution because of their work aiding American forces were denied entry at JFK. Iraqi translator Hameed Khalid Darweesh had waited three long years to get the precious visas needed to save his family.

Hamaseh Tayari, a postgraduate veterinary student at Glasgow University was stranded on holiday in Costa […]

Full Post at www.scotsman.com

The MNREGA natural experiment shows how corruption and mis-targeting of social security programmes may distort the labour markets, and reduce the employment assurance programs to providing a free basic money for a large section of rural populace. (Reuters) The recent announcement by Guy Standing, that India would soon endorse a universal basic income (UBI) comes as a big shocker. The Independent, further reports that Standing who has worked on several UBI pilot projects in India is very confident of its success, especially since the Scandinavian nation, Finland has already started the experiment with 2,000 unemployed people, each receiving 560 […]

Full Post at www.financialexpress.com

These are heady times for the Indian welfare state. Comments by government officials have renewed hope that a universal basic income, or a variant thereof, is under serious consideration. Presenting the state’s budget earlier this month, Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu proposed a targeted basic income in the form of cash transfers. Articulating a more critical view, Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, in a recent interview, stated that India simply lacked the fiscal room to deliver a universal basic income benchmarked to the poverty line. Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian had indicated in September that the Economic […]

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