2. Report summary Through this report,we endeavour to present comprehensive, consistent, and evidence based advice to the B.C. government in response to the tasks set out in the terms of reference. We do this in six parts, which: • introduce our task and provide a summary of the report (Part 1) • present a justice-based … Continue reading
Interest in basic income has increased in recent years and the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the idea of a guaranteed minimum income for Canadians into the national spotlight. Canada already has a modest basic income program in place for people with children—the Canada Child Benefit—whose economic contributions CANCEA has previously examined. This report examines the … Continue reading
Related Posts Universal Basic Income (UBI) – A primer POSTED BY MICHEL COURNOYER ⋅ APRIL 27, 2020 ⋅ 1 COMMENT What is UBI? On its face, the definition of a truly universal basic income is pretty straightforward: It’s an amount of cash given to everyone within a geographic area that’s then distributed unconditionally regularly, and on … Continue reading
As income inequality and economic upheaval take center stage, is a guaranteed minimum income worth considering? Results from a two-year experiment in Finland offer clues. A small increase in employment In the design of the Finnish experiment, the main research question, agreed to by parliament in the enabling legislation, was the impact of a basic … Continue reading
Recent debates of basic income (BI) proposals shine a useful spotlight on the challenges that traditional forms of income support are increasingly facing, and highlight gaps in social provisions that largely depend on income or employment status. A universal “no questions asked” public transfer would be simple and have the advantage that no-one would be … Continue reading
In the winter of 2015, the government, which is dominated by the right-leaning Centre Party, announced a formal study, run by Kela, to see if basic income was viable. The public adored the idea. In national polls, almost 70 percent of Finns supported it. Asked what level of income would be sufficient, on average they … Continue reading
From Mongolia to Finland to India, we are seeing heightened interest in the idea of a universal basic income (UBI)—an unconditional cash grant given to every citizen, regardless of their employment status or wealth. The idea is controversial, receiving criticism from many quarters including Future Development. To sharpen the debate, it’s useful to distinguish three … Continue reading
Manitoba’s Mincome trial, which ran from 1975 to 1979, is being spoken of respectfully now because guaranteed income has so rarely been tested in a thoughtful way. Mincome was designed consciously as an experiment, applied in two theatres. In the city of Winnipeg, 1,187 households were randomly chosen to receive a “negative income tax,” and … Continue reading
GiveDirectly, a charity that gives money directly to poor people in Kenya and Uganda, is launching a big new project: a basic income. A basic income — also called a universal basic income (UBI), guaranteed minimum income, citizens’ dividend, demogrant, etc. — is a regular payment to a group of people just for being alive. Normally, … Continue reading
Many are now calling for a “universal basic income” (UBI)—where the state gives everyone enough to live on. This would put a floor under the class of people we’re calling the “precariat,” people for whom work doesn’t lead to increased financial security. It would free us from the bullshit, allowing everyone to benefit from automation, … Continue reading
Universal Basic Income gets all this attention and popularity, but I haven’t seen one model that’s even on the planet of financial feasibility. These things are utopian. Finland is conducting an experiment in giving every adult a check for €800 a month, which would require spending far more than what the government raises in taxes. Whatever … Continue reading
So let’s run some numbers. Paying all 322 million Americans $10,000 a year would cost $3.22 trillion. Proponents claim this can be paid by redirecting existing welfare programs, but a quick review reveals this as nonsense. All state and local government social welfare programs are around $500 billion, and programs such as food stamps (SNAP) … Continue reading