BIEN – Basic Income Earth Network – NEWSFLASH 44, March 2007
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www.basicincome.org
The Basic Income Earth Network was founded in 1986 as the Basic Income European Network. It expanded its scope from Europe to the Earth in 2004.
It serves as a link between individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic income, and fosters informed discussion on this topic throughout the world.
The present NewsFlash has been prepared with the help of
Paul Nollen, David Casassas, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Sandro Gobetti, Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy, and Philippe Van Parijs.
This NewsFlash can be downloaded as a PDF document on our website www.basicincome.org
CONTENTS
1. Editorial
2. Basic Income Studies Essay Prize
3. Events
4. Glimpses of national debates
5. Publications
6. New Links
7. About BIEN
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1. EDITORIAL
In recent weeks basic income has again been intensively discussed in many countries. The “Events” section below shows the scope of the current debate, with a selection of notes received from Canada, Finland, Germany, Uruguay, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Readers of the Newsflash and all BIEN members are of course invited to send similar information on their own country to bien@basicincome.org
The Executive Committee
2. BASIC INCOME STUDIES ESSAY PRIZE
Basic Income Studies and the USBIG Network announced the winner of the 2007 Basic Income Studies Essay Prize at the Sixth Congress of the USBIG Network in New York on February 25, 2007. The Prize is awarded annually to a paper presented either at the BIEN Congress (even years) or at the USBIG Congress (odd years). The award is designed to encourage promising research on basic income and related policies. The BIS Essay Prize is awarded to an essay that exemplifies the high standard of quality and original basic income research that BIS hopes to promote. The Prize Essay and one essay worthy of honourable mention were selected by a two-judge panel of judges from Basic Income Studies and the USBIG Network.
The Prize Essay by Laura Bambrick, of Oxford University, is entitled, “A BIG Response to Wollstonecraft’s Dilemma.” The winning essay will be published in an upcoming issue of Basic Income Studies. The honourable mention essay by Richard Caputo, of Yeshiva University, is entitled, “The Death Knoll of BIG or BIG by Stealth: A Preliminary Assessment of BIG Political Viability around the Globe.”
3. EVENTS
*NEW YORK CITY (US), 23-25 February 2007: Sixth Annual USBIG Congress
The USBIG Network held its Sixth Annual Congress in New York City on February 23-25, 2007. The event was held in conjunction with the Eastern Economic Association’s Annual Meeting. According to the USBIG Newsletter (Winter 2007), about seventy academics and activists from as far away as New Zealand attended the Congress, which included sessions on the ethics of BIG; BIG as a financial reform; family, care work, and gender; the politics of BIG; the economics of BIG; and alternative anti-poverty programs. The Congress also included a presentation of the 2007 Basic Income Studies Essay Prize.
Phil Harvey, of Rutgers Law School, and Karl Widerquist, of Tulane University, debated income vs. job guarantees. Although both Harvey and Widerquist saw merit in both approaches, Harvey favoured job guarantees for their cost effectiveness, and Widerquist favoured BIG for its greater impact on the freedom of the least advantaged.
Dalton Conley, of New York University discussed the need for programs to address wealth rather than income inequality. Annie Miller, a retired economics in Edinburgh, discussed the need to BIG as part of a larger strategy for gender equity. Stanley Aronowitz, of the City University of New York, discussed the need for BIG in a changing economy. Senator Eduardo Suplicy, of the Brazilian Workers Party, discussed the Brazilian plan to phase-in a BIG over the next several years. Fred Block, of the University of California-Davis, and William DiFazio, of St. John’s University, closed the conference with presentations on strategic options for BIG and progressive social policies in the coming years.
For further information: www.usbig.net
*ROUBAIX (FR), 7-8 March 2007: Conference and Seminar on Basic Income
The so-called “Université populaire et citoyenne” (People’s and citizen’s university) was founded in 2004 in Roubaix, an industrial city in the North of France. Its main aim consists in “organising an exchange of knowledge between citizens about issues of public interest”, especially in the fields of unemployment, poverty, and sustainable development. On March 7-8, 2007, it organized two activities on basic income. On the evening of March 7, Yannick Vanderborght (Facultés Saint Louis in Brussels & University of Louvain) had been invited to make a general presentation of basic income related to the context of massive unemployment in the North of France. After his talk, the discussion with the … audience was intense but very constructive. On the morning of March 8, a smaller seminar had been organised, again with Vanderborght, to discuss the issue of social integration through existing schemes such as the French guaranteed minimum income. Among other things, social workers stressed the complexity of existing programmes, and complained about the implementation of workfare-like schemes in France. Basic income was seen as a desirable, but somewhat unrealistic proposal in this context.
For further information: http://www.upc-roubaix.org/
*ROME (IT), 28 March 2007: Dinner with Van Parijs
A cena con Van Parijs : un incontro per scambiare quattro chiacchiere sulla necessità di un reddito per tutti! [“Dinner with Van Parijs: an encounter for exchanging four chats on the necessity of an income for all”] The left-wing magazine “Infoxoa” http://www.infoxoa.org/ has been publishing many articles on basic income. On the occasion of Philippe Van Parijs’s visit to Rome, it organized a lasagna meal in Acrobax, a (squatted) alternative social centre located near Ponte Marconi, in Rome’s southern suburbs. Students and activists, steered by the editor of Infoxoa Sandro Gobetti, used the opportunity to discuss with their guest the prospects for a basic income in Italy and beyond.
*ROME (IT), 29 March 2007: Reddito e nuovo welfare tra Italia ed Europa
Università La Sapienza, Faculty of Lawa Conference on “Reddito e nuovo welfare tra Italia ed Europa” on the occasion of the publication of the Italian Version of Yannick Vanderborght and Philippe Van Parijs’s introduction to basic income, Il reddito minimo universale (Milano: EGEA, 2006), organized by the publisher (Bocconi University) and the progressive think tank Centro per la riforma dello Stato.
The meeting was chaired by Judge Giuseppe Bronzini and opened by Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain & Harvard). Other speakers included welfare state expert and former member of Parliament Laura Pennacchi (DS), labour law professor Francesco Liso (La Sapienza), Dr Elisabetta Ambrosi (from the left-wing journal Reset) and Dr Alex Foti (EGEA), while the audience included the influential political thinker and PCI politician Mario Tronti (founder of the organizing think tank) and the former co-chair of BIEN Edwin Morley-Fletcher.The discussion focused, among other things, on the ideological feasibility of such a proposal in a country whose constitution states, in its first article, that it is “based on labour” and its financial feasibility in a country which is struggling to keep its public debt under control. On the other hand, the absence of a (means-tested) guaranteed income system in Italy is a glaring anomaly among the richer EU countries, while the very difficulty of implementing a means test in a country with a significant informal economy and of organizing guaranteed work or in-kind transfers in a country whose public sector is notoriously inefficient makes a universal form of guaranteed minimum income more promising than elsewhere. In a country with alarmingly low birth rates, universal child benefits may well be the most urgent – and hence most feasible – next step.
For further information on the Conference:
http://www.centroriformastato.it/crs/
For further information on Vanderborght & Van Parijs’ book:
http://www.stampa.unibocconi.it/articolo.php?ida=1309&idr=6
*VANCOUVER (CA), 29 March 2007: Jobs and Justice Conference.
On Thursday March 29th, 2007, Guy Standing, co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) and former Director of Socio-Economic Security, International Labour Organization, spoke the Keynote address of the “Jobs & Justice Conference” in Vancouver.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/jobsconference/
See also G. Standing’s interview in the Georgia Straight News: “Labour expert leads call for basic income” (By Charlie Smith, March 29, 2007).
http://www.straight.com/article-77814/labour-expert-leads-call-for-basic-income
*GUADALAJARA (ES): 20-21 April 2007: Europe and the New Cosmopolitan Order
A Congress on “Philosophy and Politics Encounter the Challenges of 21st Century: Europe and the New Cosmopolitan Order” will be held on April 20-21th 2007 in Guadalajara (Spain).
Convenor: Society of Philosophy of Castilla-la-Mancha.
The Conference will be opened by Secretary of State of University and Research Miguel Ángel Quintanilla and will include speeches by prominent Spanish-speaking political theorists like Fernando Vallespín, María José Fariñas, Amelia Valcárcel, Javier Muguerza, Juan José Tamayo and Ángel Gabilondo. Daniel Raventós (Red Renta Básica and University of Barcelona) will give a talk on “The Republican Philosophical and Political Foundations of a Citizens’ Basic Income”.
Further information at http://sfcm.filosofos.org
*MADRID (ES), 21-23 May 2007: Conference on “Human Rights, the Utopia of Excluded People”.
Convenors: Bartolomé de las Casas Institute for Human Rights & Norberto Bobbio Chair of Equality and Non-Discrimination
This Seminar aims to raise the question of the integration of all those social groups that had traditionally been disregarded by the discourse on human rights. The critical voice of these groups constitute, in present-day societies, a valuable tool for the articulation of an optimal political society in which human rights of present and future generations become real and fully effective.
Speakers will include J.C. Davis, Javier de Lucas, María José Añón, Isabel Fanlo, Christian Courtis, Domenico Rizzo, Rafael de Asís, Gregorio Peces-Barba and Daniel Raventós, who will give a talk on “Basic Income: The Material Basis of Citizens’ Existence”.
*REGINA (CA), 6-8 June 2007: Economic Security for All in Saskatchewan: Weaving an Unbreakable Social Fabric.
This conference is organized by the Department of Justice Studies of the University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada) and the Regina Anti-Poverty Network.
Themes and topics will include: re-establishing a strong social safety net, re-committing to the principle of universality in income support, health care, and access to education, ensuring a living wage for working people, moving toward a guaranteed annual income or “basic income” in Saskatchewan and Canada.
For further information contact Prof. Jim Mulvale: jim.mulvale@uregina.ca or justice.studies@uregina.ca
[Registration forms and further information are available on the provisional conference website: http://tinyurl.com/28qmmo/esc/ ]
*MANCHESTER (UK), 3-5 September 2007: Workshop on ‘Ethics, Work and Emancipation’
A workshop on ‘Ethics, Work and Emancipation’ is planned as part of the ‘Workshops in Political Theory’ Fourth Annual Conference that will be held at Manchester Metropolitan University, 3-5 September 2007.
The goal of this specific workshop is to explore the possibility of, and the difficulties associated with realizing, emancipatory or meaningful forms of work in contemporary capitalist societies. Papers are welcomed from researchers working in the disciplines of political, social, and economic philosophy & theory.
Key themes and areas of focus include:
* Basic income and work: What is the relation between meaningful work and the basic income literature? Is the call for a basic citizen income at odds with, indifferent to, or, instead, a support to the demand for meaningful modes of human productivity?
* The concept of emancipatory and meaningful work
* The historical genesis of the concept of work
* The ethics and morality of meaningful work
*The politics of meaningful work
*Work and the economy
Organizers: Keith Breen (Queen’s University Belfast), Ruth Chenoweth
(Royal Holloway College). If you are interested in presenting a paper in this workshop, please contact Keith Breen (k.breen@qub.ac.uk).
For further information, see www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/pap/events/wpt
* BARCELONA (ES), 22-23 November 2007: 7th Symposium of Red Renta Básica and Third Seminar of Emerging Human Rights
Convenors: Red Renta Básica (RRB-XRB) & Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya (IDHC)
Apart from opening and closing plenary sessions (definitive programme will be published in due course), the Symposium will include 8 panels on the following issues:
1) Human Rights and Basic Income
2) Women and Basic Income
3) Labour Market, Right to Work, and Basic Income
4) Basic Income: Financial and Economic Issues
5) Rights of Immigrants and Basic Income
6) Normative Justifications of Basic Income
7) Basic Income and Social and Political Actors
8) Right to Basic Assets Security (water, food and energy) and Basic Income
Languages of the Symposium: Spanish and Catalan
Deadline for abstract proposals: 1st May 2007
Abstract proposals (max. 300 words) should include name, institution, email address, date of birth, and panel in which the author wishes to participate. Abstract proposals should be sent to the members of the Congress Scientific Committee:
David Casassas, University of Oxford, RRB-XRB: dcasassas@ub.edu
Águeda Mera, IDHC: comunicacio@idhc.org
Daniel Raventós, Universitat de Barcelona, RRB-XRB: danielraventos@ub.edu
José Luis Rey, Universidad P. Comillas, RRB-XRB: jlrey@der.upco.es
Jaume Saura, Universitat de Barcelona, IDHC: jsaura@ub.edu
For further information: http://www.nodo50.org/redrentabasica/textos/index.php?x=564
4. GLIMPSES OF NATIONAL DEBATES
*CANADA: NEW HOPES FOR BASIC INCOME?
According to an article published on March 5, 2007, in the “Toronto Star”, Canadian Green Party Leader Elizabeth May proposed the idea of a “guaranteed annual income for all Canadians” at a party convention in Vancouver. According to this article, respondents to a recent National Council of Welfare survey listed the idea as one of the top priorities for the Federal government. Most recently, Tory Senator Hugh Segal – a long-time proponent of a guaranteed annual income – told delegates to Toronto’s city summit alliance conference that he believes Canada has the money to ensure every Canadian can live with dignity. “When we look at the billions we now spend on social policy, it’s clear we have the capacity,” he told a workshop.
For further information, see The Toronto Star article at: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/188196.
Green Party’s website: http://www.greenparty.ca/
Note, also, that the Guaranteed Livable Income Network, which is advocating a basic income in Canada, ranked number one for action to permanently reduce poverty rates in Canada’s National Council on Welfare’s 2006 online survey conducted Oct-Dec. 2006.
5457 individuals in Canada participated in the survey. Both the Questionnaire report available as a PDF on http://www.ncwcnbes.net/en/home.html
The National Council on Welfare’s Report: “SOLVING POVERTY: Four cornerstones of a workable national strategy for Canada” (a separate document) also brings up the solution of Guaranteed Livable Income. See page 16 & 17 of their report. For instance: “The top actions that respondents thought could make a difference included a guaranteed liveable income, affordable housing, childcare and education and training.”(pg. 16), or “The Council also found some promising practices that are very important in their own contexts and offer possibilities that might work in a Canadian national context. For example, the high degree of universality in social security system’s such as Sweden’s and the concept of a guaranteed liveable income put forward in Canada merit further attention.” (pg. 17 & 18)
For further information: www.ncwcnbes.net (also in French).
*FINLAND: PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS FAVORABLY OF BASIC INCOME
USBIG, referring to an article of the “Newsroom Finland”, reports that the prime minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen, of the Centre Party, said that the structure and level of basic security should be reappraised, and that the current wide range of benefits could be replaced by a basic income guarantee of about 600 or 700 euros per month. He argued, however, that a basic income should be supplemented by incentives to encourage those capable of work to enter the labour market. According to NewsRoom Finland, “Mr Vanhanen’s comment comes amid a clash between the Social Democratic Party [SPD], the Centre’s main government partner, and the opposition Green League over guaranteed minimum income.” The Finnish Greens accused the Social Democrats of using made-up arguments to reject basic income. NewsRoom Finland reported on February 26, “Finland’s opposition Green League on Monday accused the SDP of deploying trumped-up and populist arguments to reject the idea of a guaranteed minimum income. The Greens’ critique was a response to a report by the Kalevi Sorsa foundation, an SDP-leaning organization, faulting a basic income scheme as promoted by the Green League. The leaders of the Green League said in a joint statement that the foundation’s report played down problems related to social security. Ville Kopra, a researcher, says in the foundation’s report that basic income could endanger both universal validity on the labour market and earnings-related unemployment security. The Greens say the Social Democrats’ resistance to change is dividing people into two classes where only those in regular employment should enjoy sufficient basic security.”
Two reports are on line at:
http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=15100&group=Politics
http://newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=15103&group=Politics
*GERMANY: BASIC INCOME ON TELEVISION
Basic income remains a hot topic in Germany.
Gotz W. Werner’s new book Einkommen für alle (“Income for all”, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, März 2007) has climbed the best-seller rating of the magazine Der Spiegel. It is currently rated on place 13 in the ranking following the amount of copies that were sold in the first week after the book was released – around 30,000…
The Platform “Freiheit statt Vollbeschaeftigung” (Freedom not Full-employment) defended basic income in one of the most well-known German TV-Talk shows, “Menschen bei Maischberger”. On 12 February 2007, Thomas Loer, a member of the group advocated the unconditional basic income in a discussion with Hans-Werner Sinn (a prominent economist from the Institute for Economic Research in Munich) and Gregor Gysi (Member of German Parliament representing PDS/Die Linke).
For further information see:
http://www.daserste.de/maischberger/sendung.asp?uid=tmkxvy7a8uwh4uydm5x114sj&cm.asp
The German debate on basic income is still very intense. Note for instance that “Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen” (North-Rhine-Westfalia) published a reader on Basic Income entitled “Freiheit statt Vollbeschäftigung?”
(http://www.gruene-nrw.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Gruene_NRW/Arbeit-Soziales/reader_grundsicherung/Grundsicherung_72dpi.pdf)
The German programme “Westdeutscher Rundfunk” published a series of articles on Basic Income.
http://www.wdr.de/themen/politik/1/grundeinkommen/inhalt.jhtml?rubrikenstyle=politik
“Freiheit statt Vollbeschaeftigung” publishes regularly comments on the debate in Germany in its weblog. Link:
http://freiheitstattvollbeschaeftigung.de/blog/
The online-calendar of “Aktion Grundeinkommen”, gathering information of UBI-activities in Germany gives an impression how intense the debate is nowadays in Germany: http://web.aktiongrundeinkommen.de/kalender
*URUGUAY: Presentation of Basic Income at Uruguayan Parliament – Pablo Álvarez
On March 6, Uruguayan member of the Parliament Pablo Álvarez (Frente Amplio – left wing coalition) presented at the Chamber of Representatives of the National Parliament a proposal to create what he called the “Uruguayan National Network for Basic Income”. The practically-oriented aim of this initiative was to define the pathways to implement a Basic Income in Uruguay as soon as possible. In a speech in which he first referred to More, Paine, Fourier, Russell and Meade, as well as to BIEN and Philippe Van Parijs’s work, Pablo Álvarez presented Basic Income both as a right and as a way to rationalize the current Uruguayan system of cash transfers and to avoid the problems of conditional subsidies. The Parliament approved the creation of a Committee to study the political meaning and feasibility of Basic Income.
*SOUTH AFRICA: LEADERS DIVIDED ON BASIC INCOME GRANT
USBIG reports that both the People’s Budget Campaign coalition and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have renewed their support for the basic income grant. A spokesperson for COSATU, Patrick Craven said that they were hopeful that BIG will be adopted at the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference in June 2007. However, Wendy Jasson da Costa of the Independent reports, “President Thabo Mbeki discarded any suggestion that a basic income grant was on the cards for impoverished South Africans. With a basic income grant, the government would effectively be ‘abandoning’ its citizens, he said. However, a ‘more targeted, more precise’ comprehensive social security system would definitely be implemented.” These could include the dole, but President Mbeki denied the ANC’s proposed social security reform was a way of introducing a basic income grant through the back door. Some elements within the ANC oppose Mbeki’s stance against BIG. These include not only COSTU but also the South African Communist Party and Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya support the adoption of the basic income grant by the ANC.
For further information is on COSATU’s BIG position is on line at:
http://www.mg.co.za/
Several articles are the BIG discussion are on line. See:
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/economy.aspx?ID=BD4A349036
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/economy.aspx?ID=BD4A411502
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=nw20070220141823291C801872
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=6&art_id=vn20070211235124305C359096
http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/biz/01_19012007.htm
*UNITED KINGDOM: POLITICAL SUPPORT FOR A CITIZEN’S INCOME
Three years ago, with the help of Dr. Lynne Jones MP and Sir Archy Kirkwood MP (then Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee) the British Citizen’s Income Trust distributed a questionnaire to all MPs. Seventy-one completed questionnaires and eleven letters were returned. The level of support for a Citizen’s Income was considerable. Forty-one respondents were in favour and only eleven against; and of particular interest was the level of support for a Royal Commission to study the proposal: forty-six in favour, and only sixteen against. (Sir Patrick Cormack MP, one of the respondents, commented in his letter: “I have long advocated a Royal Commission to look at the Welfare State fifty years on”.) On its website, the Citizen’s Income Trust concludes that “Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords support a Citizen’s Income approach to the reform of tax and benefits.”
For further information, please visit http://www.citizensincome.org/
5. PUBLICATIONS
*FRENCH
JÖRIMANN, Albert (2007), Un revenu de base inconditionnel – moderne et efficace, Cahiers sur le revenu de base issue 1, Geneva : BIEN-Suisse, ISBN-13: 978-2-9700552-0-4 (also available in German).
A clear and well-documented presentation of the main arguments in favour of a basic income, which includes a discussion of the Swiss political context. This discussion paper, also available in German, is the first issue of a series designed by BIEN-Switzerland, one of the National Networks recognized by BIEN. It can be downloaded at http://www.bien-ch.ch/
*GERMAN
FUEST, Clemens, MITSCHKE, Joachim, PEICHL, Andreas, SCHAEFER, Thilo (2007), Wider die Arbeitslosigkeit der beruflich Geringqualifizierten : Entwurf eines Kombilohn-Verfahrens für den Niedriglohnsektor (“A low wage subsidy scheme against unemployment of low-skilled workers”), University of Cologne, CPE – Cologne Center for Public Economics, Series FiFo-CPE Discussion Papers – Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge, issue 07-1.
The reduction of the high mass unemployment is on top of the political agenda in various countries. Especially low-skilled workers with low wages suffer from this mass unemployment. Therefore, the authors of this discussion paper entitled “A low wage subsidy scheme against unemployment of low-skilled workers” propose a basic income scheme / low wage subsidy scheme for low-skilled workers to help them find a new job or to keep their endangered job.Based on microsimulation calculations, they estimate the fiscal, labour supply and distributional effects of different reform scenarios. Furthermore, they show that employment enhancing scenarios can be financed in a revenue-neutral way under certain conditions.
This discussion paper is downloadable at http://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/uoccpe/5288.html
JÖRIMANN, Albert (2007), Ein bedingungloses Grundeinkommen – modern und effizient, BIEN-Schweiz, Hefte zum Grundeinkommen issue 1, Geneva: BIEN-Schweiz, ISBN-13: 978-2-9700552-1-1 (also available in French).
A clear and well-documented presentation of the main arguments in favour of a basic income, which includes a discussion of the Swiss political context. This discussion paper, also available in French, is the first issue of a series designed by BIEN-Switzerland, one of the National Networks recognized by BIEN. It can be downloaded at http://www.bien-ch.ch/
6. NEW LINKS
*RESOURCES ON BASIC INCOME FROM NEW ZEALAND’S NETWORK
Information on Universal Income and Economic Rights in Non-English Languages.
For use in communications with people whose first language is not English, the Universal Income Trust (UIT, www.geocities.com/caeruit) is gradually building up a series of translations of some of its resources. Though the resources are geared primarily for New Zealand, most of the information is generally applicable to anywhere in the world.
Translations of the General Information brochure, explaining the concept of Universal Income systems as expressions of international human economic rights laws, are now available in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Electronic versions of these, together with the original English text, can be accessed respectively from the resource page of UIT’s website at:
http://au.geocities.com/uitnz/Spanish_General.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/caeruit/Chinese_general.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/caeruit/Japanese_general.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/caeruit/Korean_general.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/caeruit/UI_General_Brochure.pdf
*LEWIS AND WIDERQUIST INTERVIEWED ON NEW YORK RADIO
At 10am on February 14, 2007, Bill DiFazio interviewed Karl Widerquist and Michael A. Lewis from USBIG Network on DiFazio’s radio program, “City Watch” on WBAI New York. The three discussed the basic income guarantee as a policy to address poverty in New York City. The program will be available in the WBAI archives on the web for 90 days following the original broadcast.
Go to http://archive.wbai.org/
– From USBIG Newsletter
*VANDERBORGHT INTERVIEWED IN LA DINAMO
On the occasion of the publication of the Spanish translation of Vanderborght and Van Parijs’s introductory book on basic income, the leftist magazine La Dinamo (Spain) published a long interview with Vanderborght (March 2007 issue – 24) by Albin Senghor.
The interview is online at http://www.ladinamo.org/ldnm/
Also available at http://www.nodo50.org/redrentabasica/index.php
*BASIC INCOME IN AMERICA
COOK, Richard, “Time to Change America by Challenging Economic Fundamentals,” February 26, The Dissident Voice.
This article on economic and monetary reform discusses the American Monetary Institute and the American Monetary Act, along with the LaTourette-Kucinich proposal for an infrastructure bank, as well as the legislation on “A Tax Cut for the Rest of Us” written by Al Sheahen and Karl Widerquist of the USBIG Network. The article is on line at:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb07/Cook18.htm
– From USBIG Newsletter
*A BASIC INCOME COMIC STRIP
The Penny Family and the Guaranteed Minimum Income Program
This comic strip explains the rational and the operation of Brazil’s Basic Income program. It is available on the web at:
http://www.senado.gov.br/eduardosuplicy/Programa/programa_english2.asp
– From USBIG Newsletter
* CROCKED TIMBER BLOG DISCUSSES BASIC INCOME
An interesting debate on basic income and Stakeholder Grants is running on the Crooked Timber blogsite. The discussion involves people using their own names and many of them are
prominent social scientists. The discussion is based on proposals by Philippe Van Parijs, Anne Alstott, and Bruce Ackerman. Good references to factual information relevant to the BIG debate can be found in the discussion. The thread is on-line at:
http://crookedtimber.org/2007/02/28/redesigning-distribution/#comments
– From USBIG Newsletter
* USBIG DISCUSSION PAPERS
A reminder: please note that the USBIG Network has a Discussion Paper series, which focuses on basic income and related policies, and on the state of poverty and inequality. They are on line at:
http://www.usbig.net/papers.html. Recent Discussion papers include:
No. 174 March 2007
Zelleke, Almaz, “Is ‘The Plan’ a Basic Income? An Assessment of Charles Murray’s Proposal to Replace the Welfare State with an (Almost) Universal Grant”
No. 173 March 2007
Quaraishi, Sabrina, “How Empowering Is Microcredit: A Look At Grameen Bank”
No. 172 March 2007
Tideman, Nicolaus, “The Ethics of Unequal Basic Income Guarantees”
7. ABOUT THE BASIC INCOME EARTH NETWORK
Co-chair:
Eduardo SUPLICY, Federal Senator, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Guy STANDING, Professor of Economic Security, University of Bath, and Professor of Labour Economics, Monash University
Further details about BIEN’s Executive Committee and International Board can be found on our website, as well as further details about the Recognised National Networks.
MEMBERSHIP
All life members of the Basic Income European Network, many of whom were non-Europeans, have automatically become life members of the Basic Income Earth Network.
To join them, just send your name and address (postal and electronic) to David Casassas
BIEN Life-members can become “B(I)ENEFACTORS” by giving another 100 Euros or more to the Network. The funds collected will facilitate the participation of promising BI advocates coming from developing countries or from disadvantaged groups.
B(I)ENEFACTORS:
Joel Handler (US), Philippe Van Parijs (BE), Helmut Pelzer (DE), Guy Standing (UK), Eduardo Suplicy (BR), Robert van der Veen (NL), Richard Caputo (US)
BIEN’s Life Members:
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BIEN, March 2007
