Basic Income E-Book

Annie Miller

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 71

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

This innovative book provides a new perspective on Basic Income - a regular, unconditional payment to every citizen of the country. This comprehensive book has been rigorously researched and thus will appeal to academics, policy-makers, and the general reader concerned about the current state of social security in the UK. Basic Income in practice, A Basic Income includes details of real Basic Income Schemes.

Leseprobe

ANNIE MILLER, a co-founder in 1984 of the charity that is now the Citizen’s Basic Income Trust, was its Chair 2001-23. She was also a co-founding member of the Basic Income European/ Earth Network in 1986. She first became interested in Basic Income (BI) as a direct result of her experience as a woman of being treated as a second-class citizen by the UK’S income tax and social security systems. She is convinced that a full BI, more than any other income maintenance system, can help to bring about emancipation, wellbeing and justice. An Honorary Research Fellow of Heriot-Watt University, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Praise for Essentials of Basic Income

This book is not really designed to persuade the unpersuaded of the attractiveness of basic income... Instead, this book provides a framework for activists that clarifies what a basic income is, what it is not, what questions remain open for testing and where local discretion, debate and detailed thinking are still required. It helps us get our arguments straight and it stops us falling into some of the elephant traps that are waiting for us.

One of the great strengths of this book... is that she provides a very useful overview of all the different ‘complexities’ that are hidden within this seemingly simple idea. Annie Miller’s book provides exactly the right balance of clarity and sophistication. For the growing grassroots army, this booklet will strengthen our capacity to make basic income seem both attractive and feasible.—SIMONDUFFY, WWW.CITIZEN-NETWORK.ORG

The very nature of work will change. The governments may have to consider stronger social safety nets and eventually Universal Basic Income.—ANTÓNIOGUTERRES, UNSECRETARYGENERAL, 25 SEPTEMBER 2018, AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UN

This may be the time to consider a universal salary.

POPE FRANCIS, EASTER MONDAY, 13 APRIL 2020 [SEE PAGE 73]

[Some people] have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so.

NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Universal income will be necessary over time if AI takes over most human jobs.

ELON MUSK, FOUNDER AND CEO OF SPACEX, CEO OF TESLA, INC., FOUNDER OF THE BORING COMPANY, CO-FOUNDER OF NEURALINK AND CO-FOUNDER OPENAI

By the same author:

A Basic Income Handbook, Luath Press 2017

A Basic Income Pocketbook, Luath Press 2020

Essentials of Basic Income, Luath Press 2020

All royalties generated from sales of this book will be donated to the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), Charity No. 1177066 www.basicincome.org.

The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily express the views of any specific basic income organisation.

First published as Essentials of Basic Income 2020

This revised edition 2023

ISBN: 978-1-80425-111-9

The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.

Typeset by Main Point Books, Edinburgh in 10.5 point Sabon LT

© Annie Miller 2020, 2023

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 The Limitations of Social Insurance and Means-Tested Social Assistance Systems

2 Justification for, and Definition of, BI

3 Distinguishing Between BI and Related Concepts: Pathways to BI

4 Cases for Differentiation: Adequacy

5 Instruments for Change

6 Sources of Finance

7 Costs, Illustrated with Income Tax

8 We Can Afford It: A Strategy

9 What Difference Could a BI Make?

10 Who Would Benefit from an ‘Adequate’ BI?

11 Some Economic Effects of an ‘Adequate’ BI

12 Valid Criticism of BI

13 Evidence from Around the World

14 Where Next?

Select Bibliography

What You Can Do

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

AIartificial intelligenceBIbasic incomeBIENBasic Income European/Earth NetworkCTcash transfers (benefits and financing)GDPgross domestic product mdr marginal deduction rateMTBmeans-tested benefitOECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentSAsocial assistance system (mainly of income- and wealth-tested benefits)SI(contributory) social insuranceSPsocial protection programme (cash benefits)VATvalue added taxUNUnited Nations

Related concepts (Chapter 3)

BI + ITseparate BI and income tax systemsITincome taxNITnegative income taxBI-NITBI integrated with income tax systemnon-BInon-BI cash benefitsnon-BI-NITnon-BI cash benefits integrated with an income tax system

Aspects of costs (Chapter 7)

Bother cash benefitsPA(income tax-free) personal allowanceTRtax reliefs, (exemptions, tax loopholes)tyrate of tax on incomeTYrevenue from taxes on incomeYgross personal income

Introduction

GLOBAL INTERESTIN basic income (BI) has increased enormously in recent years, with the failure of many national social protection programmes and the successful BI experiments around the world fuelling speculation as to its worldwide applicability. A BI programme is not a policy objective, but an instrument which could result in a set of five simultaneous broad beneficial outcomes. The concept remains deceptively simple, however, and is difficult to define. The international educational charity, Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), provides the first port of call for information about basic income.

Academic research and analysis provide the foundation in which advocacy should be rooted, thus helping to avoid false expectations, accusations of misrepresentation and political opportunism. The definition is the keystone of the structure. A clear definition enables more productive debate to take place, avoiding the confusion and frustration caused by talking at cross purposes, when people use the same term for different concepts.

The first task of this book is to propose an addition and some refinements to the most widely used definition of a BI. This is provided by BIEN on its website, accompanied by a commentary on the five characteristics that expand the idea, as revised at its General Assembly in 2016 (see www.basicincome.org/about-basic-income/).

The omission or alteration of one or more of BI’S characteristics defines some related concepts, that are either already in common use or proposed in the literature. Special needs, such as those on account of people’s disabilities, would be met via a separate system of benefits, in addition to their BIS.

Although a simple idea, a BI is a transformative instrument that could radically change many aspects of our lives. Its analysis draws on philosophy, ethics, political science, law, sociology, psychology, economics, environmental science and administration, among other subjects. For such a wide-ranging subject, it is difficult for many of us to create a framework within which to present a clear and logical development - which may change as one’s understanding grows.

The second objective is to provide as clear, concise, accurate and comprehensive an account as possible, capturing the essentials of BI in a framework representing my current understanding of the subject. This book is intended both to serve as a reference manual for BI advocates worldwide, to make their task easier and to provide a tour through the basics for those new to the subject.

Academia and advocacy use different skills and voice and are complementary to each other. We need each other. A constant dialogue between the two groups is necessary so that the one can inform the other and the other can give feedback, for instance, about how academic language can influence, for good or ill, the work of BI advocates in persuading grassroots, opinion-formers and policymakers alike.

My third objective is that this book should not only inform but inspire and encourage others in the fight for a just, inclusive and compassionate society. The implementation of a BI will not negate all the economic injustices that so many of our fellow citizens encounter in their day-to-day lives, but it is a necessary step.

The effects of many of the (often man-made) crises that have afflicted the world in recent decades - gross inequalities in income and wealth as a result of globalisation, the power and domination of Big Tech companies and the Financial Crisis of 2008 coupled with austerity policies - could have been ameliorated by a BI.

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic early in 2020 has presented the strongest case yet for the implementation of national BI programmes across the world, together with an international system to reduce global inequality and help poorer countries.

World problems have been further exacerbated by Russia’s re- invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and its subsequent effects on both fuel supplies and grain exports to the rest of the world, leading to high inflation and the likelihood of a worldwide depression.

The fight for freedom, security and justice is more urgent now than ever.