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Other advocates are winners of the ], including ], ], ], ], ], ], and, depending on how one regards his ] proposal, ]. Other advocates are winners of the ], including ], ], ], ], ], ], and, depending on how one regards his ] proposal, ].


], a former candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States and currently a candidate for the 2008 Libertarian nomination for the President of the United States, advocates for a guaranteed annual income, which he terms a "citizen's wage," of $5,000 per person. ], a former candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States and currently a candidate for the 2008 Libertarian nomination for the President of the United States, advocates for a tax rebate paid in a monthly check from the government to all citizens.<ref> Gravel presidential campaign 2008: "How Mark stands on the issues".</ref>


In his ] essays, ] argues that the growing amount of automation in the workplace will eventually displace a large percentage of workers, and that in order to be able to maintain the economy, an annual stipend will be needed.<ref> Marshall Brain, "Robotic Freedom", 2003</ref> A similar argument was made by ], in his book ].<ref>Jeremy Rifkin, "The End of Work - The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era", Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 1995</ref> In his ] essays, ] argues that the growing amount of automation in the workplace will eventually displace a large percentage of workers, and that in order to be able to maintain the economy, an annual stipend will be needed.<ref> Marshall Brain, "Robotic Freedom", 2003</ref> A similar argument was made by ], in his book ].<ref>Jeremy Rifkin, "The End of Work - The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era", Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 1995</ref>
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* ''(several articles, some in German)'' * ''(several articles, some in German)''
* ''(in Portuguese)''
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* ''(Freedom, Not Full Employment)'' (Germany)
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* (Netherlands)
* (Netherlands) ''(in Dutch)''
* (South Africa)
* (Spain)
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] ]

Revision as of 14:14, 30 April 2008

A basic income is a proposed system of social security, that periodically provides each citizen with a sum of money that is sufficient to live on. Except for citizenship, a basic income is entirely unconditional. Furthermore, there is no means test; the richest as well as the poorest citizens would receive it.

A basic income is often proposed in the form of a citizen's dividend (a transfer) or a negative income tax (a guarantee). A basic income less than the social minimum is referred to as a partial basic income. A worldwide basic income, typically including income redistribution between nations, is known as a global basic income.

The proposal is a specific form of guaranteed minimum income, which is normally conditional and subject to a means test.

Arguments

The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) describes one of the benefits of a basic income as having a lower overall cost than that of the current means-tested social welfare benefits. However critics have pointed out the potential work disincentives created by such a program, and have cast doubts over its implementability.

Examples of implementation

The U.S. State of Alaska has a system which provides each citizen with a share of the state's oil revenues.

The city of Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada had an experimental guaranteed annual income program ("Mincome") in the 1970s.

A negative income tax, proposed by Milton Friedman, came close to implementation in the United States under Richard Nixon . Also, the USA has the Earned income tax credit for low-income taxpayers.

Methods of implementation

One proposed method of offsetting the cost to the Treasury of this tax expenditure lies in its coupling with a flat tax, a type of federal income tax in which all taxpayers are subject to a single tax rate. The current model of progressive income taxes used throughout the western world could be eliminated, but the system would still be progressive, since those at the lower end of the wage scale would pay less in taxes than they would receive in guaranteed income.

Advocates

The world's most noted advocate of a basic income system may be the Belgian economist Philippe van Parijs. Other advocates include Keith Rankin (New Zealand), Andre Gorz (France), Saar Boerlage (Netherlands), Walter van Trier (Belgium), Eduardo Suplicy (Brazil), Osmo Soininvaara (Finland), Gunnar Adler-Karlsson (Sweden), Herwig Büchele (Innsbruck, Austria), Götz W. Werner (Germany), Dieter Althaus (Germany), Daniel Raventós (Spain), and Charles Murray (USA).

Other advocates are winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics, including Paul Samuelson, James Tobin, Herbert Simon, Friedrich Hayek, James Meade, Robert Solow, and, depending on how one regards his negative income tax proposal, Milton Friedman.

Mike Gravel, a former candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States and currently a candidate for the 2008 Libertarian nomination for the President of the United States, advocates for a tax rebate paid in a monthly check from the government to all citizens.

In his Robotic Nation essays, Marshall Brain argues that the growing amount of automation in the workplace will eventually displace a large percentage of workers, and that in order to be able to maintain the economy, an annual stipend will be needed. A similar argument was made by Jeremy Rifkin, in his book The End of Work.

Funding

Many different sources of funding have been suggested for a guaranteed minimum income:

See also

References

  1. BIEN: frequently asked questions
  2. Interview with Philippe van Parijs
  3. See Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend; the fund's revenues are no longer only from oil.
  4. Story of Manitoba
  5. Philippe van Parijs (ed.), "Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform", London: Verso, 1992
  6. Keith Rankin, "Universal Basic Income: its Core and Essence", New Zealand, 1998
  7. Andre Gorz, "Critique of Economic Reason", in: Peter Waterman, Ronaldo Munck, "Labour Worldwide in the Era of Globalisation: Alternative Union Models in the New World Order", Macmillan, London, 1999
  8. Walter van Trier, "Everyone a King. An Investigation into the Meaning and Significance of the Debate on Basic Incomes with Special Reference to Three Episodes from the British Inter-War Experience", Katholieke Universiteit Leuven: Fakulteit politieke en sociale wetenschappen, PhD thesis, 1995
  9. Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy, "Citizen’s Basic Income: The Answer is Blowing in Wind", USBIG 5th Congress, 2006
  10. Gravel presidential campaign 2008: "How Mark stands on the issues".
  11. Marshall Brain, "Robotic Freedom", 2003
  12. Jeremy Rifkin, "The End of Work - The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era", Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 1995

External links

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