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Universal Basic Income and Women’s Liberation

From 1971 to 1978, the UK women’s liberation movement held ten national conferences at which it formally adopted a total of seven key demands. The fifth of these demands, added in 1974, was for financial and legal independence for women, accepted with widespread support across all wings of the movement. It is indeed difficult to imagine a form of feminism which does not, in a money-based society, insist that women have their own means of financial support as a way of avoiding being trapped by economic dependence in coercive, perhaps abusive, relationships.

It is therefore perhaps ironic that the question […]

Universal basic income dominates French Socialists’ primary debate

Rebel Socialist Benoît Hamon, who resigned as education minister in protest at what he saw as the government’s rightward drift, has made the basic income proposal his key policy and Jean-Luc Bennahmias, the leader of the small Democratic and Ecologist Union, also backs the call.

And the question provided the only real controversy in the first of three televised debates ahead of the primaries to be held on 22 and 29 January.

To read our profiles of the seven candidates click here Former prime minister Manuel Valls dismissed it as contrary to his vision of a “society of work”, Euro-MP […]

Universal Basic Income

Universal Basic Income

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The persistence of high inequality and the prospect of job losses owing to automation in the advanced world has led several advanced economies to consider the idea of a universal basic income (UBI) to guarantee their citizens a minimum level of income support.

The same idea seems to be gaining favour among a growing number of economists and policymakers in India, but for different reasons. Whether the UBI is effective? It is not clear that the money actually reaches the poor. So the question is whether the UBI is a more effective way of reaching the poor that the […]

Robots Will Devour Jobs More Slowly Than You Think

Robots Will Devour Jobs More Slowly Than You Think

We know that automation is affecting the labor market , but forecasts differ on how swift and dramatic the future impact will be. A new report now suggests things may happen more slowly than some have predicted.

Last month, it was reported that Foxconn plans to replace almost every human worker in some of its manufacturing plants with a robot . Perhaps more worrying for office workers was the news that a Japanese insurance firm was sacking over 30 staff because artificial intelligence could calculate payouts just as well as humans. No wonder that two-thirds of Americans believe that robots […]

Will you be replaced by a robot? A look at what jobs are going to the bots

Will you be replaced by a robot? A look at what jobs are going to the bots

WATCH ABOVE: European politicians debate whether to give robots rights With automation and artificial intelligence seeping into our everyday lives, the threat of a robot revolution taking over our jobs (and, according to sci-fi movies, the world) seems more realistic.

While automation will inevitably become more common in the workplace, a new report estimates only about five per cent of jobs are in jeopardy of a total takeover.

READ MORE: Do humans trust robots too much? Overall, automation will benefit businesses and economies as a whole, write the authors of the report from the McKinsey Global Institute , the business […]

Harnessing automation for a future that works

Harnessing automation for a future that works

Automation is happening, and it will bring substantial benefits to businesses and economies worldwide, but it won’t arrive overnight. A new McKinsey Global Institute report finds realizing automation’s full potential requires people and technology to work hand in hand.

Recent developments in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have put us on the cusp of a new automation age. Robots and computers can not only perform a range of routine physical work activities better and more cheaply than humans, but they are also increasingly capable of accomplishing activities that include cognitive capabilities once considered too difficult to automate successfully, […]

The case for a Universal Basic Income – Launch Event 26/1/2017

The case for a Universal Basic Income - Launch Event 26/1/2017

Come along and hear about an idea that is gaining traction around the world and could transform our society.

The Buchanan Institute is proposing a universal basic income , a guaranteed weekly or monthly payment for all citizens, that will provide everyone with a secure financial foundation to build their lives. We are delighted to be launching in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and that one of our confirmed speakers is Cllr Matt Kerr , who is leading the efforts to implement a basic income pilot for Glasgow citizens.

This is a chance to come and hear and […]

Will Jaitley take a cue from J&K and opt for Universal Basic Income in the budget?

New Delhi: Days before the Union budget which will be presented in the backdrop of disruptions caused by the demonetisation drive, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government became the first to commit to a Universal Basic Income for all citizens living below the poverty line by providing direct benefit transfers, raising expectations that finance minister Arun Jaitley may follow suit.

In his third budget speech on Wednesday, J&K finance minister Haseeb Drabu said he would want to create a social security fund and provide a “Universal Basic Income” to all those living “below the poverty line” through a direct benefit […]

Data Sheet—Friday, January 13, 2017

Artificial intelligence is a much-feared development, but likely for the wrong reasons. The concern isn’t that machines will rise up against us so much that the hunks of metal and wires will make humans irrelevant. Andrew Ng, the Baidu scientist who helped start Google’s AI project, dubbed Google Brain , says he and his machine learning pals amuse themselves by theorizing which jobs computers will make redundant.

The prospects are daunting. For all the comfort, efficiency, and safety they promise, autonomous vehicles will throw millions of drivers out of work. Agriculture looks set to be even more mechanized than it […]

Universal basic income dominates French Socialists’ primary debate

Universal basic income dominates French Socialists' primary debate

The seven candidates to be Socialist-backed presidential candidate before the debate Reuters/Philippe Wojazer

A rebel Socialist’s call for a universal basic income dominated the first of three debate’s between the seven would-be centre-left candidates for France’s presidential election this year.

Rebel Socialist Benoît Hamon, who resigned as education minister in protest at what he saw as the government’s rightward drift, has made the basic income proposal his key policy and Jean-Luc Bennahmias, the leader of the small Democratic and Ecologist Union, also backs the call.And the question provided the only real controversy in the first of three televised debates ahead of […]