Category: Basic Income

Gwynedd Council express interest in Universal Basic Income pilot scheme

Gwynedd Council express interest in Universal Basic Income pilot scheme

Gwynedd Council have expressed interest in working on a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot scheme with the Welsh Government.

Under a UBI system, every citizen, regardless of their means, receives regular sums of money for life to cover the basic cost of living. Its proponents argue that it can alleviate poverty and give people time to retrain and adapt to changing workplaces, be more creative and become more active and engaged.

Elin Walker Jones, the Glyder councillor who presented the motion on UBI has said that Gwynedd is the “ideal” area to trial UBI, with a “large rural population” but also […]

A basic income and an inheritance for all – Thomas Piketty

A basic income and an inheritance for all – Thomas Piketty

05 June 2021 10:16

The covid-19 crisis forces us to rethink the tools of redistribution and solidarity. Proposals flourish almost everywhere: basic income, guaranteed work, an inheritance for everyone. Let’s face it right away: these proposals are complementary and not alternative. In the long run they will all have to be applied, step by step and in this order. Let’s start with basic income. Today this measure is insufficient, especially in the global South, where in the absence of a minimum wage people cannot respect the lockdown . In India, during the 2019 elections, opposition parties had proposed introducing a […]

$2000 Stimulus Checks Every Month? The Idea That Simply Won’t Die

$2000 Stimulus Checks Every Month? The Idea That Simply Won't Die

In 2019, a little-known businessman and entrepreneur named Andrew Yang ran for president. Most commentators and media outlets were quick to dismiss him, noting his lack of experience in politics and the oddness of his signature economic proposal: the “Freedom Dividend,” a monthly $1000 check to all adult Americans.

The Freedom Dividend was a variation on the idea of “universal basic income,” a scheme under which all residents of a certain area – a city, a state, or a nation – receive a certain baseline amount of money. Pilot programs for cash payments have been practiced elsewhere, in cities (Stockton […]

Bitcoin Isn’t Good For Payments, Says Mike Novogratz

Bitcoin Isn’t Good For Payments, Says Mike Novogratz

Mike Novogratz, a billionaire investor and former hedge fund manager, has always defended bitcoin when it acts erratically, but he recently stated in an interview that the world’s most valuable digital currency will never be used for payments. Bitcoin Won’t Be Used For Payments, Says Novogratz

Mike Novogratz said bitcoin will not be used as a form of payment because the network can’t support thousands of transactions. In an episode of the Exchanges at Goldman Sachs podcast , the Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO played up bitcoin’s use case as a store of value and asset class, and not a […]

Board Approves Creation of Countywide Poverty Alleviation Policy Agenda and Guaranteed Income Pilot Program – Los Angeles Sentinel | Los Angeles Sentinel

Board Approves Creation of Countywide Poverty Alleviation Policy Agenda and Guaranteed Income Pilot Program – Los Angeles Sentinel | Los Angeles Sentinel

Board approves county-wide poverty alleviation policy agenda and guaranteed income pilot program

The Los Angeles County Supervisory Board has approved a motion prepared by Director Holly J. Mitchell and co-authored by Director Sheila Curle, and has developed a county-wide poverty alleviation policy agenda and a guaranteed income test program. The pilot will provide a minimum of 1,000 residents with a maximum of $ 1,000 per month for three years.

“Achieving a fair recovery from COVID-19 requires deliberate investment in the most vulnerable communities to end the symptoms of poverty, such as the homeless, exacerbated by the pandemic,” said supervisor Holly.・ J. […]

Poor families in Minneapolis could tap into ‘guaranteed income’ of $500 per month

Poor families in Minneapolis could tap into 'guaranteed income' of $500 per month

“… people are best equipped to determine how to use resources that are made available to them.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. The city of Minneapolis would pay about 200 low-income families $500 a month for two years as part of a guaranteed income program that Mayor Jacob Frey wants to fund with American Rescue Plan dollars.

Frey on Friday released his proposal for spending $89 million of the $271 million federal pandemic relief money, a plan that includes allocations for housing assistance, violence prevention programs and a fund for city employees furloughed during the pandemic.

A growing cohort of local […]

Want a Monthly Stimulus Check? Say These Words: Universal Basic Income.

Want a Monthly Stimulus Check? Say These Words: Universal Basic Income.

Progressive lawmakers lauded the passage of the coronavirus stimulus payments after a new report indicated that the checks significantly decreased hardship for families across the country.

The University of Michigan report used Census Bureau data to analyze the hardships that struck families during the pandemic, finding that food insufficiency fell more than 40 percent, financial instability dropped 45 percent and symptoms of depression declined by 20 percent after the passage of the $600 direct payments approved under the previous administration and the $1,400 checks signed off President Joe Biden .

The report’s results prompted remarks from some of the most progressive […]

A universal basic income could encourage workers to stay off work. Let it.

A universal basic income could encourage workers to stay off work. Let it.

A person in bed. Image credit: John Clarke/Pikrepo. The Financial Times , no source to trifle with, says the sluggish return to work due to income supports during COVID "spells trouble" for fans of a universal basic income (UBI).

"If you give people the kind of financial support that allows them to withdraw their labour, a good number probably will."

I think the proper response to this insight, after due reflection, is DUH! The Financial Times (FT) belabours it anyway: "Could furlough schemes and pandemic handouts be spurring workers to shirk?"True, "shirk" betrays a touch of repressed employer rage, but the […]

King County Councilmember: Universal basic income creates ‘cycle of dependency’

King County Councilmember: Universal basic income creates ‘cycle of dependency’

Dori says we don’t need a universal basic income in King County. Instead, people just need to get jobs. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Last week, King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove put forward a proposal to explore universal basic income countywide, which would be funded by a supplemental budget.

King County Councilmember unveils proposal to explore universal basic income While Upthegrove did not respond to inquiries to join KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show to discuss the proposal, his fellow councilmember Reagan Dunn shared his own thoughts on UBI.“He wants to put a quote, unquote ‘study’ together to look at the […]

Tory tax policies will always be designed to protect the better-off

Tory tax policies will always be designed to protect the better-off

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes set out the Scottish Government’s recovery plan BUSINESS at Holyrood on Wednesday included a government debate on economic recovery post-Covid. Cabinet Secretary for the Economy Kate Forbes led the debate and laid out the SNP government’s economic plan.

Covid has been so cruel to so many aspects of our lives. There are things we used to take for granted that we will never take for granted again. Many households have been plunged into poverty and insecurity as unemployment rises exponentially. And only this week the ban on evictions has ended in England; thankfully in Scotland it […]