Category: Basic Income

Budget 2017: Govt mulling unemployment allowance scheme for poor

Budget 2017: Govt mulling unemployment allowance scheme for poor

The idea is being discussed as a means of addressing poverty and if a decision is reached, it could be announced in the February 1 budget by FM Arun Jaitley. NEW DELHI: The government is considering an ambitious income transfer scheme that could form the basis of a national social security system though opinion is divided over whether it should be a universal basic income or more focused support limited to the most vulnerable.

The idea is being discussed as a means of addressing poverty and if a decision is reached, it could be announced in the February 1 budget […]

Universal Basic Income. Really?

Universal Basic Income. Really?

When I chose to study economics after my intermediate exams, I used to ask few questions repeatedly to every economics student I came across. However, after a year or two, everyone was asking me the same questions. One of the constantly asked questions was, “Why doesn’t government directly transfer money in the accounts of below poverty line people and end poverty in their countries?” I had little to answer in the same way the finance minister of the de-facto government* of Indian controlled Kashmir has.

Like Mr Drabu’s earlier designation of “Political Sufi” about his Patron, Late Mufti Muhammad Syed, […]

Welfare By Another Name? Finland Experimenting With Providing Citizens With ‘Basic Income’

Welfare By Another Name? Finland Experimenting With Providing Citizens With ‘Basic Income’

Back during the primaries, when people hadn’t yet discovered that the DNC was fixing the outcome for Hillary, you would often see Bernie boosters extolling the virtues of Scandinavian socialism. Everything in Europe’s great white north was better than it is in America according to their oversimplified Facebook posts and Imgur memes. It probably won’t be long before we start hearing about the latest experiment in collectivism taking place in Finland. The Finnish is conducting a trial program to provide ‘basic income’ to citizens instead of traditional welfare.

Could it actually be a good idea though? Government social programs almost […]

Europe Moves One Step Closer To Making Universal Income A Reality

Europe Moves One Step Closer To Making Universal Income A Reality

The rise of robots is unstoppable. And as they take over an ever-increasing number of manual jobs, the threat of mass unemployment is looming closer than ever. In light of this ongoing ‘technological revolution’ and its possible implications on everything we know, a report initiated by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Mady Delvaux-Stehres of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has recently earned the approval of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament with an overwhelming result of 17 votes in favor and 2 votes against.

Providing an overview of the increasing impact of robots and […]

Martin Luther King’s Economic Dream: A Guaranteed Income for All Americans

One of the more under-appreciated aspects of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy is that by the end of his career, he had fashioned himself into a crusader against poverty, not just among blacks, but all Americans. In the weeks leading to his assassination, the civil rights leader had been hard at work organizing a new march on Washington known as the “Poor People’s Campaign.” The goal was to erect a tent city on the National Mall, that, as Mark Engler described it for The Nation in 2010, would “dramatize the reality of joblessness and deprivation by bringing those […]

As robots take jobs, Europeans mull free money for all

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PARIS (AP) — I am, therefore I’m paid.The radical notion that governments should hand out free money to everyone — rich and poor, those who work and those who don’t — is slowly but surely gaining ground in Europe. Yes, you read that right: a guaranteed monthly living allowance, no strings attached.In France, two of the seven candidates vying to represent the ruling Socialist Party in this year’s presidential election are promising modest but regular stipends to all French adults. A limited test is already underway in Finland, with other experiments planned elsewhere, including in the […]

Martin Luther King Jr. was decades ahead of his time in advocating for a universal basic income

Martin Luther King Jr. was decades ahead of his time in advocating for a universal basic income

The idea King promoted is back in conversation today, but now it’s because of robots. Humans aren’t as necessary as they once were for carrying out basic tasks, manual and otherwise . Robots are doing more and more of those jobs, threatening to displace large numbers of workers and prompting experts from economists to Elon Musk to ask whether now is the time to implement a universal basic income, a social safety net that would provide unconditional cash payments to everyone.

While the specifics of the debate have changed—automation is now the force driving it —the debate itself isn’t a […]

European Parliament’s legal affairs committee wants to look into basic income in light of robots threat

European Parliament's legal affairs committee wants to look into basic income in light of robots threat

The European Parliament will vote on a report calling on the European Commission and all EU member states to “seriously consider” basic income in order to address the economic consequences of automation and artificial intelligence.

On Thursday 12 January, European Parliament’s committee on Legal affairs (JURI) adopted a report on “ Civil law rules on robotics ” which considers the legal and economic consequences of the rise of robots and artificial intelligence devices.

According to the report, since “robots, bots, androids and other manifestations of artificial intelligence (“AI”) seem poised to unleash a new industrial revolution, which is likely to […]

As robots take jobs, Europeans mull free money for all

PARIS — I am, therefore I’m paid.

The radical notion that governments should hand out free money to everyone — rich and poor, those who work and those who don’t — is slowly but surely gaining ground in Europe. Yes, you read that right: a guaranteed monthly living allowance, no strings attached.

In France, two of the seven candidates vying to represent the ruling Socialist Party in this year’s presidential election are promising modest but regular stipends to all French adults. A limited test is already underway in Finland, with other experiments planned elsewhere, including in the United States.Called "universal income" […]

Here’s one cause Martin Luther King fought for which you might not know about

Here’s one cause Martin Luther King fought for which you might not know about

Say the name "Martin Luther King, Jr" (MLK) and most people will instantly think "American civil rights hero".

With good reason – King’s most well-known legacy comes from his role as leader in the civil rights movement, preacher of nonviolent resistance, and Nobel Peace prizewinner. But most people don’t know that for MLK, black Americans’ struggle for civil rights was inseparable from the fight against economic inequality in the US. And his answer to that inequality was a policy which activists are still calling for today: universal basic income. King the reformer

“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism," […]