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Basic Income: an idea whose time has finally come?

As far back as 1516, Thomas More first suggested a guaranteed income as a way to reduce theft. In 1797, enlightenment thinker Thomas Paine proposed a set of radical reforms in his seminal pamphlet on Agrarian Justice . Among these proposals was the idea of a universal basic income that would be paid to everyone, unconditionally. In the intervening 220 years, polemicists and policymakers have toyed with the idea, without it ever really catching on.

What has changed?

Firstly, it is increasingly clear that our economic model is leaving more and more people behind. The polarisation in income and opportunities between […]

Don’t fear our robotic future

Don’t fear our robotic future

Neo-Luddism – the fear that machines will take our jobs – is alive and well. The idea of a universal basic income as insurance against the day robots put us out of work is gaining prominence. The fear, however, remains unjustified.

Computers are no longer limited to repetitive mechanical tasks. Today’s machines can learn procedures, optimise production flows, devise new solutions, and even come up with creative designs. Besides the factory floor, where we need ever fewer workers to babysit the machines, service and professional jobs are also being threatened by automation.

A former McDonald’s CEO warned in 2016 that higher […]

8 high-profile entrepreneurs who have endorsed universal basic income

8 high-profile entrepreneurs who have endorsed universal basic income

AP

It might seem odd for tech entrepreneurs to take an interest in income distribution policy. But an increasing number of high-profile Silicon Valley executives are endorsing universal basic income (UBI), a system in which everyone receives a standard amount of money just for being alive.

On the one hand, it’s a way to reduce poverty, but tech folks also see it as a way to solvethe growing problem of robot automation. That issue hits close to home for many of them, because they are the ones largely driving this robot revolution.Here are some of the highest-profile entrepreneurs who have endorsed […]

Universal Basic Income: Here and now, or needs work?

Universal Basic Income: Here and now, or needs work?

Universal Basic Income is only affordable in wealthy nations, and those need a reliable income source for that to happen (Norway, Kuwait, Finland, UAE…). I am more favorable to the voucher system, it’s a much more efficient welfare system.

Universal basic income is only affordable in NO nations. It will never be practical until all jobs are completely automated. That’s not going to happen without a complete overhaul of the world’s economic systems. Which isn’t going to happen as long as people work. Anyways, you get the point, I’m sure. There is no point in having universal income, because […]

The founder of eBay is investing nearly $500,000 to test giving people free money

The founder of eBay is investing nearly $500,000 to test giving people free money

Pierre Omidyar receives the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2011. Source: Getty Support for Universal Basic Income has increased considerably in the past few years, sparked by stark changes in the labor landscape. The idea is simple, and it solves the question of how you’d earn money if machines are handling much of the labor load. Everybody receives a check, like Social Security, to supplement income.

There has never been any test of how well UBI works on a large scale, because of cost. And without data, the utility and best applications of UBI remain unclear.

To that end, on Tuesday, […]

If Facebook makes billions from my data, I deserve the basic income as a dividend for my work

If Facebook makes billions from my data, I deserve the basic income as a dividend for my work

UBI is the key to finding the next Mark Zuckerberg ​“Why do I exist?”: a question that has preoccupied the greatest minds, and the rest of us after a heavy night out, since time immemorial. Today, it appears the answer is to simply make a lot of money for Google and Facebook .

You and I are the raw material for these social media companies. Those baby photos, the birthday party invites and the self-indulgent status updates are the coal, iron and steel of the fourth industrial revolution.

Facebook, Google and other major technology firms harvest the raw data you produce […]

Donald Trump’s (Potential) Case for Universal Basic Income

Donald Trump's (Potential) Case for Universal Basic Income

The idea of universal basic income was largely ignored by Americans for forty years before it started to get traction again as a byproduct of conversations about automation and the end of the traditional manufacturing sector. Bernie Sanders popularized the pseudo-policy proposal in 2016, rallying supporters around the idea of an American social democracy. He didn’t win the primary. Which is not to say that the notion of paying citizens for being citizens is a wholly radical idea. Liberals have traditionally championed Social Security and Medicare, entitlement programs that offer state benefits to citizens in return for nothing (well, […]

The path to achieving a truly universal basic income

The path to achieving a truly universal basic income

Image credit: stevendepolo, flickr creative commons Is it a viable prospect to create a direct mechanism for transferring a universal basic income to all the world’s people? Not before we bring about a huge united voice of ordinary citizens in favour of sharing the world’s resources to end hunger and life-threatening poverty once and for all, argues STWR.

The following article is an edited version of a talk given at the World Basic Income conference held in Salford, UK, in February 2017.

At STWR, we’ve long advocated the importance of sharing in relation to the world’s most pressing problems, from spiralling […]

10,000 Canadians Sign Petition Calling For Basic Income

10,000 Canadians Sign Petition Calling For Basic Income

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Two of Bobby Vee’s four children have filed a court petition claiming their siblings are misusing money from the late pop singer’s estate. Robby Velline and Jennifer Whittet Velline claim in the Stearns County District Court petition that their brothers, Tommy and Jeff Velline, have spent money from the estate on themselves and to support Rockhouse Productions, a recording studio and production facility they run. It was established by Bobby and his wife, Karen, who is also deceased. © Provided by thecanadianpress. © Adam Korzekwa/Getty Images looks like a lot of Canadians really want a […]

Basic income guarantee gains political traction

Basic income guarantee gains political traction

National

Introducing a basic income guarantee has become one of the much-debated policy issues among presidential hopefuls amid growing calls to create a welfare society.

The issue of adopting the state-provided income system, under which the government doles out payments to the people regardless of their income level or employment status, was first raised by Seongman Mayor Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, who promises to distribute 1.3 million won ($1,136) a year for people under 29 and over 65.Lee says 28 million people would be entitled to basic income, and that it would require 43.5 trillion won to implement […]