This is the Newsletter of the USBIG Network (www.usbig.net), which promotes the
discussion of the basic income guarantee (BIG) in the United States. BIG is a
policy that would unconditionally guarantee at least a subsistence-level income
for everyone. If you would like to be added to or removed from this list please
email: Karl@Widerquist.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Seventh
USBIG Congress: Call for papers and presentations
2. Poll shows Americans
sympathetic to goals of BIG while prominent politicians begin to discuss its
merits
3. The BIG Bill to be Reintroduced in the 110th Congress
4. Alaska
Permanent Fund Hits New High
5. Basic Income Studies
Releases its Third Issue
6. South Africa: “Appears to be
growing support” for BIG
7. Correction: British Labour MP and Leadership Candidate Endorses BIG
8. Basic
Income on Front Page of Germany’s Number 1 Weekly
9. Slovenian President
Endorses BIG
10. United Nations: Basic
Income Proposal is “Good Practice Model”
11. Recent Events
12. Upcoming Events
13. Recent
Publications
14. New Links
15. New Members
16. Links and Other Info
The USBIG Network will hold its Seventh Congress at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel
on March 7-9, 2008. The Keynote Speaker will be Philippe Van Parijs, of
The Call for Papers will be released in a few days. Scholars, activists, and
others are invited to propose papers, and organize panel discussions. Proposals
and panel discussions are welcome on BIG or topics related to the distribution
of wealth and income. All points of view are welcome. Submissions from any
academic discipline are invited and non-academics are invited to submit as
well. Anyone interested in presenting a paper or organizing a panel should
submit either an abstract of their paper or a panel proposal to the chair of
the organizing committee:
Michael A. Lewis:
mlewis@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Please include the following information with your abstract and/or panel
proposal:
1. Name
2. Affiliation
3. Address
4. City, State, Zip, and Country
5. Telephone, FAX
6. Email Address
7. Paper or Presentation Title
8. Abstract of 50-150 words
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: October 29th, 2007
Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description
of the panel and the information above for each participant. If the
participants are not presenting formal papers, the title of the paper and
abstract may be omitted. Panels with formal paper presentations should be
limited to four presentations, although discussions without formal papers can
include more.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Chair: Michael A. Lewis (mlewis@notes.cc.sunysb.edu)
Associate Professor, SUNY School of Social Welfare, at Stony Brook
Eri Noguchi (en16@columbia.edu)
Columbia University and the
Association to Benefit Children
Almaz Zelleke
(zellekea@newschool.edu)
Director of Academic Affairs, The
New School for General Studies
A Pew Poll, reported by the Center for American Progress and mentioned in the
July 9 issue of the Nation magazine shows that 69% agree that "the
government should guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep"
and an identical 69% agree that "it is the responsibility of the
government to take care of people who can't take care of themselves." Even
58% of Republicans agree. These figures are up 10 and 12 points respectively
relative to their recent low point in 1994. The poll, conducted in January,
2007, also showed that two-thirds of Americans want the government to guarantee
health insurance for all citizens.
BIG DISCUSSED ON CAPITOL HILL
The National Summit on America’s Children hosted by Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill
included many academic papers documenting the role of poverty in the
deteriorating physical, mental and emotional condition of an increasing number
of US children, according to Sara Dustin who attended the event. Being younger
than four years old is now the most significant risk factor for food
insufficiency in the
As a solution, Professor J. Lawrence Aber, of the Institute
for Human Development and Social Change, New York University, suggested the
expansion of the EITC until it becomes a truly substantial refundable tax
credit for all families with children who are under a certain income level
whether the family has earnings or not. In other words, they are looking at a
BIG, although restricted so far in their thinking to families with children.
FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR ENDORSES BIG
On the west coast, Robert Reich, U.S. Secretary of Labor
under President Clinton, and Professor of Public Policy at the
It is not known whether Reich or Pelosi’s attention to BIG will affect the
prospects of the BIG bill. Representative Robert Filner, who introduced the
original BIG bill into the 109th Congress in May, 2006, has agreed to
reintroduce it into the 110th Congress. The bill—known as “the Tax
Cut for the Rest of Us Act”—would transform the standard income tax deduction
into a standard tax credit of $2000 per adult and $1000 per child, thus
providing a small basic income guarantee to all Americans.
Because of the new "pay-as-you-go" rules which the Democrats adopted
in January, 2007, a new bill cannot be introduced until its cost and a way to
pay for it are determined. Filner also felt it was important to gain the
support of members of the
Over the past four months, Al Sheahen has led attempts to gain the support of
members of the
"I was able to meet for nearly an hour with the legislative director of
Charles Rangel, the powerful Chairman of the W&M Committee," Sheahen
said. "He was very sympathetic to the idea of a BIG, but said we needed a
movement from the ground up, rather than a bill from the top down. No surprise,
there, but we've always felt that having a bill circulating in Congress would
at least help bring the idea of BIG back onto the national agenda."
Sheahen also met with 10 other aides to legislators and several non-profit
groups. "The mood in
When the Center for American Progress recently announced a year-long study of
how to end poverty, it did not include the concept of BIG in its report. When
asked why not, the CAP director said BIG is too radical for this Congress and
would have no chance. Instead, CAP recommended incremental changes, such as
more food stamps, more funds for Head Start, health insurance for children,
increasing the earned income tax credit, and making the child tax credit fully
refundable.
The latter would actually be a significant achievement. Today, parents can't
get any child tax credit unless they have annual earned income of at least
$11,300. They can't get the full $1000 child tax credit unless their income is
over about $23,000. Making the credit fully refundable would provide, for the
first time, a tax credit to people who are not in the paid labor force and not
making money from investments.
The original idea in getting a BIG bill introduced in Congress was to try to
educate legislators and non-profit groups that BIG is the best way to provide
economic freedom and security to everyone. To a small degree, that has been
done. Hopefully, the 500 or so legislators and groups who have been contacted
during the past couple of years will at least think about BIG when the
political climate is more favorable.
Some BIG activists met in
Alaskan state officials confirmed that the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) topped
40 billion dollars in total assets on July 13, 2007, according to Wesley Loy of
the Anchorage Daily News. The APF funds
The size of the dividend is also estimated to rise this year to about $1,575
per person or $6,300 for a family of four, also according to Wesley Loy.
Official figures for the size of the PFD will not be released until
mid-September, but the estimate represents an increase of $468 over last year’s
dividend of $1,106.96. However it is still substantially below the largest PFD
of $1,963.86 in 2000.
A record size of the fund does not directly translate into a record-size
dividend because the dividend is determined by five-year average earnings of
the fund rather than its total value. The total value of the fund is determined
not only by its earnings, but also by new investments in the fund out of the
state’s oil revenues. Recent oil revenue windfalls do not directly determine
the dividend, but they are likely to lead to continued high dividends in the
future.
According to Loy, “The big reason for this year's jump is that a relatively
poor year, 2002, is falling out of the equation to make room for this past
year, which was a strong one for profits. Next year's dividend is likely to be
even bigger as another weak year, 2003, will fall out of the equation.” If
investment returns remain high as the state begins to make returns on recent
oil revenues, Alaskans could see record-size dividends within a few years.
Volume 2, Issue 1 of Basic Income Studies (BIS) was released
by the Berkeley Electronic Press in June 2007. BIS is the first academic
journal on basic income. It has a free guest access policy so that everyone can
access its content free by filling out a form requesting a library or an
institution to subscribe.
This issue contains three research articles by Michael W. Howard, José A.
Noguera, and Tony Fitzpatrick; two research notes by Almaz
Zelleke and Tero Auvinen; and book reviews of " Major Douglas: The
Policy of a Philosophy", "The Ethics of Stakeholding", "
Income Security as a Right: Europe and North America", and " The
Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship". The
issue also contains a debate, guest-edited by Rubèn
Lo Vuolo (CIEPP,
BIS welcomes submission of research articles and notes on basic income and
cognate polices. To submit your next paper, visit http://www.bepress.com/bis,
and click "Submit Article". If you would like to discuss your
contribution informally, contact Jurgen De Wispelaere or Karl Widerquist at
bis-editors@bepress.com. To inquire about books in need of reviewers contact
Sandra Gonzalez at sandra.gonzalezbailon@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.
ABSTRACTS:
Michael W. Howard (2007) "A NAFTA Dividend: A Guaranteed Minimum Income
for
ABSTRACT: This paper explores the desirability and
feasibility of a minimum income for the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) region. I review arguments in support of a basic income or a negative
income tax for the European Union (EU). Then I examine ways in which the NAFTA
countries do and do not resemble the EU in aspects relevant for the
desirability and feasibility of a regional basic income. I argue that a case
can be made for a North American guaranteed income, grounded, with respect to
desirability, in a globalist theory of justice, and
with respect to feasibility, in the necessity of moderating the flow of labor
migration. A universal regional basic income is a useful tool for regional
development that is fair and that insures better than does the current NAFTA
that cooperation benefits the least advantaged.
José A. Noguera (2007) "Why Left Reciprocity Theories Are
Inconsistent", Basic Income Studies: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 5.
http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art5
ABSTRACT: The reciprocity objection is one of the most widespread criticisms
against Basic Income (BI). In this article I challenge the consistency between
the reciprocity principle and the preferred policy options of left reciprocity
theorists. I argue that any consistent policy design for a reciprocity theory
should satisfy two conditions: 1. Everyone who
benefits from social resources contributes relevantly (reciprocally) to
society's efforts; and 2. Everyone who contributes relevantly to society
benefits from social resources. BI is accused by reciprocity theorists of
failing to satisfy Condition 1. But, surprisingly, their preferred policy pack
also fails to satisfy Condition 1, and seems badly prepared to satisfy
Condition 2. Significantly, left reciprocity theorists reject those options that
would satisfy both conditions. I suggest that other normative values and
intuitions may explain that inconsistency and indicate that the reciprocity
objection to BI is wrong for principled reasons.
Tony Fitzpatrick (2007) "Streams, Grants and Pools: Stakeholding,
Asset-Based Welfare and Convertibility", Basic Income Studies: Vol. 2: No.
1, Article 6. http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art6
ABSTRACT:
Many recent policy-related debates have centred on
the possibility of constructing post-social insurance and post-means tested
forms of income provision. Such asset-based welfare and stakeholding
proposals have included Basic Income (BI) and some form of endowment or Capital
Grant (CG) scheme. Although the differences between these systems are certainly
real, and present us with distinct policy options, they are often overstated.
This article has two objectives, therefore - the first of which is to identify
the key similarities and differences between BI and CGs,
and to argue the case for a partial, non-time-limited and unconditional BI.
Second, this article reviews the issue of convertibility, i.e., the main
normative questions to consider when designing a system permitting the
mortgaging of income streams into lump-sum grants or pools.
Almaz Zelleke (2007) "Targeting
Benefit Levels to Individuals or Families?",
Basic Income Studies: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 7.
http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art7
ABSTRACT: In this article, I take for granted agreement on the merits of an
unconditional basic income, and I consider the form its distribution might
take. I explore the equity, efficiency, and incentive effects of several basic
income models in order to provide a plausible example of what a basic income in
the
Tero Auvinen (2007) "A
Monetary
ABSTRACT: This note identifies three arguments from the monetary reform debate
that are particularly relevant to universal basic income (UBI) and explores
their contribution to the cumulative case for UBI.
DEBATE: “BASIC INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES”
Corina Rodríguez Enríquez "Basic Income and Labour
Market Conditions: Insights from
Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy "Basic Income and
Employment in
Claudia Haarmann and Dirk Haarmann
"From Survival to Decent Employment: Basic Income Security in
Jeremy Seekings "The Inconsequentiality of
Employment Disincentives: Basic Income in
Louise Haagh "Basic Income, Occupational Freedom
and Antipoverty Policy". http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art13
BOOK REVIEWS
Stephen Winter "Review of John W. Hughes, Major Douglas: The Policy of a
Philosophy". http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art14
Athina Vlachantoni
"Review of Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere, and Stuart White, The
Ethics of Stakeholding". http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art15
Mònica Clua Losada "Review of Guy Standing, Income Security as a
Right: Europe and
Cristian Pérez Muñoz "Review of Stuart White, The Civic Minimum: On
the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship".
http://www.bepress.com/bis/vol2/iss1/art17
South African newspapers report continued support for BIG in progressive
organizations and at least discussion of the idea within the ruling ANC
government. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has repeated his call for a basic income
grant. According to the Times, Tutu said, "I hope our government can
re-think the need for a basic income grant," in his address at the South
African Council of Churches’ (SACC) triennial conference in Johannesburg. “Tutu
said overseas research showed that once income grants were achieved, the health
of children improved, their attendance at school rose and so did their
achievement level,” The Times reported. According to the Mail & Gaurdian, SACC general secretary Eddie Makue
said, "Grants are meant for the elderly, children and people with
disabilities. It is imperative that we look at the basic income grant. It will
make a difference in the lives of poor people."
According to Business Report, the basic income grant was “high on the agenda”
of delegates as the ANC policy conference debated the issue of BIG, but
according to the Independent on Line, more delegates felt that if there was to
be income support, it had to be linked to "work activity" to avoid
creating dependency. According to Business Report, public works minister Thoko Didiza said BIG should now
be given consideration by the government, but she also emphasized that whatever
system was finally forged should be associated with job creation, by linking it
to either a public or private works program. Although it is unlikely that the
ANC will endorse a full BIG branches have recommended that child grants be
increased to the age of 18, according to SABC News. Child grants are
essentially a Basic Income Grant for children.
According to Donwald Pressly,
writing about the ANC conference for Business Report, “There was much focus on
the need for a social wage and the need for ‘targeted interventions’ to support
able-bodied but unemployed young adults through providing subsidies and grants,
but which should be linked to creating long employment for the marginalized.
There appears to be growing support in the movement for a basic income grant.”
The Times Article on Tutu’s speech:
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=517220
Story on the ANC’s policy conference from the Independent on Line:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=nw20070629190540698C920371
Story on the ANC’s policy conference from Business Report:
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3909249
Story from SABC News: http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/the_parties/0,2172,151107,00.html
Mail & Guardian Story:
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/&articleid=311707
Donwald Pressly’s article
in Business Report: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3912273
John McDonnell has been an MP for the British Labour Party since 1997. The Spring Issue of the USBIG
Newsletter misidentified him as being Australian. The editor apologizes for the
error.
McDonnell led a campaign against Gordon Brown for leadership of the Labour Party after Tony Blair announced his resignation.
McDonnell’s campaign demanded a democratic election for the party leadership
and an open debate about the policies that a Labour
Government should implement. McDonnell is considered a more left-oriented
member of the party who has resisted the party’s rightward “New Labour” shift. His leadership campaign endorsed
establishing social rights to a Citizen’s Income (or BIG) along with affordable
housing, free education, childcare, healthcare, and care in older age.
McDonnell’s website is on line at http://www.john4leader.org.uk/.
BIEN reports: On April 12, 2007, the front page of the German weekly Die Zeit had as its main title: "Basic Income: the dream
of money without work", and inside a very long article by Zeit journalist Kolja Rudzio drawing on the pleas for an unconditional basic
income by businessman Götz Werner (at a level of EUR
800, possibly rising to EUR 1500 per person and per month) and by the President
of the East-German Land of Thüringen, the
Christian-Democrat Dieter Althaus (at a far more
modest level). The article is written with some sympathy for the idea, which is
presented as a reaction to the failure of the German version of workfare
("Harz IV") to put the long-term unemployed
back to work, and it quotes at length the
BIEN reports: Janez Drnnovsek,
Slovenia's President since 2002 after being its Prime Minister from 1992 to
2002, has a blog on which he expresses his personal views
(http://janezd.blog.siol.net/), including, on several occasions, his sympathy
for a universal basic income. Along the same lines, he also intervenes in his
personal capacity on other blogs. Here is, for example, a commentary he
published on http://www.gibanje.org/ on 6 May 2006:
"One of [the interesting suggestions you are making] is for example the
idea of a universal basic income. The idea is to guarantee a basic income to
everyone, irrespective of who or what he is, and of
whether or not he is working. To guarantee to every citizen and eventually to
every person a decent level of subsistence conforms to the aims of the Movement
for Justice and Progress [the civil society movement founded by Janez Drnovsek in 2006 in his
personal capacity]. This should be the final goal of a well balanced and just
society. Just think what a huge change it would be if suddenly every citizen
enjoyed the possibility of guaranteed subsistence. There would be no more
lamentation about being unemployed and marginalized. Up to a point everyone
would be equal - up to the level of the universal basic income. Beyond this,
there would be differences, different incomes as a function of work performed
and resources managed. The incapacity to survive, this sword of Damocles, would
no longer be hanging above our heads. We would be more relaxed in our
relationships and we may even produce more than we are producing now. The state
is already allocating substantial resources to a range of social expenses, and
the increase in public expenditures required may not be very big. On the other
hand, the system would be more transparent, simple and possibly just."
BIEN Reports: In February 2007, Bishop Zephania Kameeta of the
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN (CANADA): Economic Security For All In Saskatchewan:
Weaving an Unbreakable Social Fabric
Organized by the University of Regina Department of Justice Studies and the
community-based Regina Anti-Poverty Network
June 6-7, 2007
Anti-poverty and social justice activists, social and public policy analysts
and government policymakers gathered in Regina for a two-day conference
discussing how to address the widening gap between the rich and the poor. The
conference largely focused on basic income as a possible solution. Themes and
topics will included: 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, and moving toward a
guaranteed annual income or basic income in Saskatchewan and Canada.
"What we are trying to do is take a step back and look at the whole
picture. Hopefully by doing this we can come up with possible alternatives that
would alleviate and, in the long run, eradicate poverty while also providing a
more effective and humane safety-net,'' said conference chairman Professor Jim
Mulvale with the Department of Justice Studies, according to the Leader-Post of
Regina.
Keynote speaker Yannick Vanderborght of the Basic Income Earth Network with the
Universite Catholique de
Louvain in
An article on the conference written by Anne Kyle appeared in the Leader-Post
on Monday, June 04, 2007 is on line at http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/city_province/story.html?id=effd044b-cd2d-4b5b-aa06-154864bd29b0.
For further information go to:
http://www.uregina.ca/arts/justice-studies/esc/index.html,
or contact: Jim Mulvale at Jim.Mulvale@uregina.ca.
BUENOS AIRES (AR), 28 April 2007, "The Right to Existence beyond the
Territorial Borders: A Basic Income Proposal also for Immigrants".
This conference by Alex Boso (
-From BIEN
VIENNA (AT), 28 April 2007, Basic income conference
A conference on basic income was held at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna on
April 28, with Margit Appel,
member of the Austrian network, Benediktus Hardrop (Mannheim/Germany) and representatives of the
Austrian Civil society. Margit Appel
stressed that a basic income would give everyone more freedom to choose what to
do in life. Whereas politicians are mainly pessimistic - they think that people
would abuse their freedom and rather do nothing - persons in favour of a BI are optimistic that people would engage
(politically, in their neighborhoods, in the social field,…) and would also
choose to work (paid as well as unpaid work). Benediktus
Hardrop (
-From BIEN
CAPE TOWN (ZA), 2 May 2007, Roundtable Discussion on Basic Income
At the initiative of Ellen Rosskam, Visiting
Professor at the University of Massachusetts (Lowell, USA), a well-attended
roundtable discussion on basic income was held in Cape Town, South Africa on 2
May, 2007. The event was sponsored by the International Honors Program through
-From BIEN
This year´s annual congress of the basic income
Austrian network took place in the city of
-From BIEN
KLAGENFURT / St. GEORGEN a. LÄNGSEE (AT), 11-14 May 2007, "BI - week"
panel discussions, congress, workshops, round tables
In the Southern province of Austria, Carinthia, the
debate on basic income is moving forward. On Friday, May 11th, two specific
events took place. "I don´t want a job, I want a
basic income" was the provocative title of a panel discussion organized by
the
On Saturday 12 May, four workshops followed. These experts participated: Werner
Rätz (German BI-network), Susanne Dermutz
(
On May 14, Markus Schlagnitweit , director of KSOE (Catholic Social Academy of Austria)
held a workshop in
-From BIEN
MADRID (ES), 21-23 May 2007, Seminar 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 aimed 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 gave a talk on "Basic Income: The Material Basis of Citizens'
Existence".
-From BIEN
Philippe Van Parijs's “What's Wrong with a Free Lunch?” was published a couple
of years ago by
-From BIEN
ZURICH (CH), 24 May 2007, Discussion on Basic Income with Dieter Althaus
Dieter Althaus is the Minister-President of Thüringen (one of Germany's Lander), and has developed a
model for financing a basic income of €600/month in Germany. At the initiative
of BIEN-Switzerland, he came to Zurich to present his model and discuss it with
a few experts. For further information :
http://www.d-althaus.de/ and http://www.revenudebase.ch/
-From BIEN
KASSEL (DE), 1-3 June 2007: Unconditional Basic Income: How? Financing models,
implementation, and perspectives
This conference aimed to supply essential information on the subject as well as
comparing different approaches to questions such as tax-based financing,
societal integration and advanced perspectives of a basic income. Concepts
connected to the names of Dieter Althaus, Gotz Werner and others were presented. Speakers included
Dieter Althaus, Ronald Blaschke,
Roland Duchâtelet, Kai Eicker-Wolf,
Gerald Häfner, Sascha
Liebermann, Reinhard Loske,
Ulrich Morgenthaler, Christoph
Strawe, Johannes Stüttgen, Götz Werner, Stefan Wolf, Birgit Zenker
et al. Full conference programme from: Kulturinitiative im Anthroposophischen Zentrum Kassel, Wilhelmshöher Allee 261, D-34131 Kassel. Tel:
+49 (0)561 930 88 47; Email: kultur@az-kassel.de; www.az-kassel.de
-From BIEN
"Basic Income. A concept for decent living and working
conditions for everyone" (July 3, 2007, 9.30-13, European Parliament,
For further information:
Sepp KUSSTATSCHER - MEP, Rue Wiertz
60 - ASP 08G108 B-1047 Brüssel
Tel: +32-2-28 45143; Fax: +32-2-28 49143
E-Mail: sepp.kusstatscher@europarl.europa.eu
www.sepp.kusstatscher.net
-From BIEN
BERLIN (DE), 4 July 2007: Basic Income from a Feminist Perspective
The Humboldt University in Berlin organised a lecture series on Feminist Economics. In this framework, Ingrid Robeyns (University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands) gave a talk entitled "Revisiting Basic Income from a Feminist Perspective" (4th of July).
For further information: http://www.gender.hu-berlin.de/
-From BIEN
BASEL (SWITZERLAND), 5-7 October 2007, Second German-speaking
Basic income Congress
"Unconditional and securing everyone’s needs! Basic Income as a
human right" is the title of the second German speaking congress to be
held on October 5-7, 2007, in the Swiss city of
-Basic Income as a human right
-Concept(s) of "labor"/"work" and the "idea of
man"
-Social security system - Labour as the centre of
traditional models
-How European social security systems could be changed with regard to BI
-Workfare / atypical work / Working poor - what impact do these new forms of
work have on the idea of BI
-How to finance a BI
All workshops and discussions will pay attention to the Gender dimension. Among
the experts invited are Anne Alex, Margit Appel, Ronald Blaschke, Alex Demirovic, Wolfgang Engler,
Andreas Exner, Maria Hintersteiner,
Nicole Lieger, Ueli Maeder, Dagmar Paternoga, André Presse, Harald Rein, Klaus Sambor, Franz Segbers, Aji Sirmoglu,
Peter Ulrich, Mag Wompel. This international congress is organized by the
BI-networks of
For further details: www.grundeinkommen2007.org
-From BIEN
26-27 October 2007
The Centre for the Study of Social Justice, along with the Department of
Politics and International Relations,
The past two decades have witnessed a remarkable revival in both academic and
policy circles of the idea that every citizen should be granted an
unconditional basic income by right, without a means test or work requirement.
Nevertheless, many questions remain before this idea could be turned into a
workable policy. Prominent amongst these are questions about the very shape of
a basic income society: what would a society in which an unconditional basic income
takes a central place look like in terms of its broader policies and
institutions? There are also important debates about the normative
justification and political feasibility of a basic income society. The
conference reflects on these questions, aiming to chart both promising avenues
and pitfalls in the current debate.
Participants include Simon Birnbaum, David Casassas,
Jurgen De Wispelaere, Antoni Domènech,
Tony Fitzpatrick, Louise Haagh, Bill Jordan, José
Antonio Noguera, Michael Opielka, Carole Pateman, David Purdy, Daniel Raventós, Yannick Vanderborght, Stuart White and Karl
Widerquist.
For further information visit the conference website at
http://social-justice.politics.ox.ac.uk/events/basicincome, or contact the
organizers David Casassas (
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
A provisional list of the papers that will be given can be found at
http://www.nodo50.org/redrentabasica/textos/index.php?x=612
More information can be found at
http://www.nodo50.org/redrentabasica/textos/index.php?x=564
-From BIEN
COOK, Richard C. Credit as a Public Utility: the Key to Monetary Reform: Review
Article
Global Research, May 26, 2007
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=COO20070526&articleId=5772
COOK, Richard C. Poverty in America: Progressive Schemes to Reduce Poverty will
Fail without Monetary Reform
Global Research, June 7, 2007
COOK, Richard C. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson: Coming Financial Crash
Shows Need for Immediate Monetary Reform
Global Research, July 23, 2007
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5905
These three articles advocate a basic income guarantee as part of a larger
monetary reform package based on Social Credit.
TOMLINSON, John “The self-made man: admiring his creator”: Basic Income beats
targeted welfare.
The New Community Quarterly Vol 4 No 4 Summer 2006
pp. 52-55
ABSTRACT: This article will look at some of the reasons why Australia perseveres
with outmoded income maintenance policies which are targeted, categorical,
means-tested, piecemeal and lacking in generosity. It will suggest that the
introduction of a universal Basic Income would go some considerable way to
providing increased income security for all permanent residents, removing
stigma, and ending our centuries old preoccupation with a poor law system of
welfare assistance. It will reflect upon the current debate about “social
inclusion” arguing that the mechanisms enforced by governments’ to facilitate
“social inclusion” actually result in the marginalisation
and social exclusion of many poor people. The article will conclude with a
brief summary of the advantages of a Basic Income over other forms of income
maintenance.
TOMLINSON, John “
The New Community Quarterly Vol 5 No 1 Autumn 2007
pp.33-41
INTRODUCTION: Some have attempted to argue the case for the
introduction of a Basic Income because of the ease with which it could be
allocated to citizens. Others recognise its capacity
to invigorate the economy. Amongst these writers, some believe the economy
would expand following the introduction of a Basic Income because it would free
up entrepreneurial imagining, provide opportunities for workers to engage in
new occupations and remove many obstacles to further production. Others argue
that the economy would contract if a Basic Income was introduced because many
people would choose to live more sustainably and would work fewer hours. Some
writers suggest that the presence of a Basic Income would lead to more people
joining the labour force because of the greater
flexibility in the work place and because a Basic Income removes welfare
benefit poverty traps. … While others contend that many employees would leave
work because they would no longer experience the economic necessity which
forces them to seek employment. These writers propose that if a Basic Income
were introduced it should have a work participation component attached to it.
OZAWA, Shuji: Radical tax overhaul would help the
working poor
May 18, 2007, Asahi Simbun (Weekly)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705180089.html
The author, a professor of social policy at Kyoto Prefectural
University, makes the case that a basic income would eliminate the problem of
the working poor who fall through the cracks of Japan’s social welfare system.
CARTER, Valerie J. & HOWARD, Michael W. (2007), 'Income inequality', in G.
L. Anderson & K. G. Herr (eds.), Encyclopedia of activism and social
justice (Vol. 2), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 733-737.
This entry makes reference to basic income, both nationally and
internationally, as one possible solution to the problem of income inequality.
CITIZEN'S INCOME TRUST (2007), Citizen's Income Newsletter, Issue 2, 2007,
available at
http://www.citizensincome.org/resources/newsletter%20issue%202%202007.shtml
This issue of the CIT's Newsletter includes a report
on the BIEN Conference held in Cape Town (by Karl Widerquist), and a report on
the latest USBIG Congress (by Annie Miller).
KORNBLUH, Felicia (2007), The
This book by Felicia Kornbluh (Department of History,
Duke University, USA) concerns the debate over the guaranteed income in the
U.S. in the 1960s, and the grassroots movement for welfare rights that was
largely responsible for moving the basic income agenda forward. It also
includes a chapter on President Nixon's Family Assistance Plan of 1969-1972,
which draws on extensive archival evidence that has not been used previously to
explore this elite legislative and bureaucratic effort to create a minimum
income in the
Virmani, Arvind (2007)
Poverty can be eliminated
The Business Standard, New Delhi June 29, 2007
In this article, author Arvind Virmani,
Director and Professor, the Indian Council for Research on International
Economic Relations, discusses the costs of and possible solutions to poverty in
India. He argues that a modern “smart card” system that delivers cash basic
income guarantee in the form of a negative income tax could eliminate poverty
in
WEBSITE DEVOTED TO GLOBAL JUSTICE AND BASIC INCOME
The website www.development4all.org proposes various sections discussing basic
income in an international perspective.
The Webmaster, Lisinka Ulatowska, is looking for authors advocating basic income
and interested in publishing texts on the website, which is designed as a
resource for activists around the globe. Her address is: Lisinka
Ulatowska <lisinkalu@versatel.nl>
-From BIEN
INTERVIEW WITH GÖTZ WERNER IN ENGLISH
One of the numerous interviews with Götz Werner,
currently the most prominent advocate of basic income in Germany, is available
in English (translation of an interview published in Die Welt on April 25,
2007) http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/05/22/18419551.php
-From BIEN
Three new members have joined the USBIG Network since the last issue of the
Newsletter. The USBIG Network now has 136 members from 29
The current members of the USBIG Network are:
Karl Widerquist, Cassopolis, MI; Eri Noguchi, New York, NY; Fred Block, Davis,
CA; Michael A. Lewis, New York, NY; Steve Shafarman, Washington, DC; Brian Steensland, Bloomington, IN; Al Sheahen, Van Nuys, CA;
Philippe Van Parijs, Brussels, Belgium; Stanley Aronowitz, New York, NY; Carole
Pateman, Los Angeles, CA; Frances Fox Piven, New
York, NY; Eduardo Suplicy, Sao Paolo, Brazil; J. Philip Wogaman,
Washington, DC; Chris LaPlante, Blacksburg, VA; John
Marangos, Fort Collins, CO; Fransisco Sales, Carretera Mexico City, DF, Mexico; Manuel Henriques, Lisbon, Portugal; Amelia Baughman, Williams, AZ;
Robert F. Clark, Alexandria, VA; Jason Burke Murphy, Saint Louis, MO; Joel Handler,
Los Angeles, CA; Glen C. Cain, Madison, WI; Timothy Roscoe Carter, San Fransisco, CA; John Bollman, Bay
City, MI; George McGuire, Brooklyn, NY; Adrian Kuziminski,
Fly Creek, NY; Hyun-Mook Lim, Seoul, Korea; Kelly D. Pinkham, Kansas City, MO; Michael Murray, Clive, IA; Josep LI. Ortega, Santa Coloma, Andorra; Michael Opielka, Königswinter, Germany; Brenden
Miller, Cambridge, MA; Myron J. Frankman, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada; Frank Thompson, Ann Arbor, MI; Harry F. Dahms,
Knoxville, TN; Buford Farris, Bastrop, TX; Roy Morrison, Warner, NH; Robley E. "Rob" George, Manhattan Beach, CA, Almaz Zelleke, Brooklyn, NY;
Gonzalo Pou, Montevideo, Uruguay; Elisabetta
Pernigotti, Paris, France; Ross Zucker,
New York, NY; Sean Owens, La Mirada, CA, Dean Herd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
Hugh Thompson, London, UK; Jan van Knippenberg, Kinrooi, Belgium; Adam Csillag,
Berlin, Germany; Steve Gazzo, Pittsburgh, PA; Mike Cottone, Weaverville, CA; Brigitte Sirois,
Quebec, Quebec, Canada; Guy Standing, Geneva Switzerland; G. W. Putto, Den Haag, the Netherlands; Anonymous, Berkeley, CA;
Pete Farina, Washington, DC; Robert Wirengard, Fair
Share, Florida; Urban Boljka, Ljubljana, Slovenia;
Ronal Cohen, Bennington, Vermont; H.T.L. Quan,
Chicago, Illinois; Lourdes Maria Silva Araujo; Espirito Santo, Brazil; Patrick S. O'Donnell, Santa
Barbara, California; Stephen Nathanson, Boston,
Massachusetts; Jerey Vogt, Washington, DC; Justine
Lam, Arlington, Virginia; Ricardo A. Bunge, San
Antonio, Texas; Aziz Akgul,
Ankara, Turkey; Judith A. Kaluzny, Fullerton,
California; Leonard Butters, Spokane, Washington; Peter Christiansen, San
Francisco, California; Kyle Patrick Meredith, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Benjamin Hyink, LaGrange, Illinois; Nancy Folbre,
Amherst, Massachusetts; Noaki Yoshihara, Kunitachi, Tokyo; Bernard Mueller, Torrance, California; Zool (Paul Zulkowitz); Woodmare, New York; Amanda Reilly, Wellington, New Zealand;
Adam Sacks, Lexington, Massachusetts; Mark Levinson, New York, New York Kathy
Fitzpatrick, Grand Rapids, MI; Stephen C. Clark, Port Hueneme,
CA; Cristian Pérez Muñoz, Sauce, Uruguay; Richa,
Grand Rapids, MI; Floyd Robinson, Ann Arbor, MI; Bradley Nelson, Portland, OR;
Mark Ewbank, Coventry, United Kingdom; Bernard Cloutier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Mark Erickson, Skokie,
IL; Dale Carrico, Oakland, CA; Joseph Meyer, St.Vith, Belgium; A.R. Rowe, Brooklyn, NY; Pius Charles
Murray, Somersworth, NH; John D. Jones, Milwaukee, WI; Troy Davis,
Williamsburg, VA; William E Fraser, Santa Cruz, CA; Luke Mead, Astoria, OR; Ori Lev, Baltimore, MD; Ralph Rostas,
Chester, VA; Laura Cornelius, Woodbridge, VA; Dylan Matthews, Hanover, NH; John
(Jack) O'Donnell, Millville, NJ; Stefano Lucarelli, Ancona, Italy; Richard Lippincott
Biddle, Philadelphia, PA; Alanna Hartzok,
Scotland, PA; Hank Delisle, Fukuoudai,
Japan; Michael LaTorra, Las Cruces, NM; Mike Roberts,
Rochester, NY, Anson Chong, Fen Forest, HI; Michele
Lewis, Washington, DC; Heather Boushey, Washington,
DC; Nicolaus Tideman, Blacksburg, VA; John Carroll, Edinburgh, IN; Rosalind
Diana, Seaside Heights, NJ; W. Robert Needham, Waterloo, ON, Canada; Cedric
Neill, Orlando, FA; Richard Cook, College Park, MD; Miroslav
Turcinovic, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; William
DiFazio, Brooklyn, NY; Angel Garman, Hugo OK; Karin Nyquist,
Emmaboda, Sweden; Larry Dansinger,
Monroe, ME; Richard G. Wamai Cambridge, MA; Melissa
Farrell, Staten Island, NY; Bill McCormick, Grand Junction, CO; Rashida Ali-Campbell, Yeadon, PA;
Lenny Krosinsky, Albuquerque, NM; Rachel Crutcher, Allen, TX; Julie Hendrix, Little Rock, AR; Annie
Miller, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; Michael Howard, Orono,
ME; Rae Amey, Los Angeles, CA; Colleen Chrisinger, Seattle, WA.
For links to dozens of BIG websites around the world, go to
http://www.usbig.net/links.html. These links are to any website with
information about BIG, but USBIG does not necessarily endorse their content or
their agendas.
The USBIG Network Newsletter
Editor: Karl Widerquist
Research: Paul Nollen
Copyediting: Mike Murray and the USBIG Committee
The U.S. Basic Income Guarantee (USBIG) Network publishes
this newsletter. The Network is a discussion group on basic income guarantee
(BIG) in the
You may copy and circulate articles from this newsletter, but please mention
the source and include a link to http://www.usbig.net. If you know any BIG news;
if you know anyone who would like to be added to this list; or if you would
like to be removed from this list; please send me an email:
Karl@Widerquist.com.
As always, your comments on this newsletter and the USBIG website are gladly
welcomed.
Thank you,
-Karl Widerquist, USBIG Coordinator. Karl@Widerquist.com