Two stories: first Canada; then the U.K., each asking that a universal basic income be created now.
COVID-19 Crisis Is Opportunity To Test A Basic Income For All Canadians
By Daniel Tencer, HuffPost, March 19, 2020
The First World War gave birth to the progressive income tax. The coronavirus crisis could do the same for a basic income.
During the Great Recession a decade ago, a meme went around echoing the words of renowned economist Milton Friedman. He said that when a crisis hits, the response depends on the ideas lying around.
Canada’s COVID-19 stimulus package is just that, an anything-goes grab bag of ideas that happened to be lying around. There’s a new Emergency Support Benefit for those who lose their jobs to the virus; an increase to the Canada Child Benefit; a wage subsidy for businesses impacted by the virus; expanded financial support for exporters; and on and on.
In all, it amounts to $27 billion in direct stimulus spending, plus $55 billion in tax deferrals meant to give households and businesses breathing room until the fall, for a total cost of $82 billion.
All of it is designed to keep incomes flowing to businesses and households at a time when large tracts of the economy have simply shut down. But there is an idea that has been lying around that could achieve the same thing, likely more effectively and certainly more simply: A universal basic income.
Watch: 5 financial relief measures for Canadians impacted by COVID-19
According to a 2018 Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) report, a Canada-wide basic income of the type experimented with in Ontario a few years ago would have a net cost of $43 billion ― or just a little more than half the cost of the stimulus package announced Wednesday.
Under that plan, an individual would be guaranteed a minimum annual income of $16,989 and couples would be guaranteed a minimum $24,027 a year. Anyone earning below that would be topped up to those levels.
By the PBO’s estimate, Trudeau’s Liberals could have put in a basic income of that model, and still had $39 billion left over for direct aid to business.
To be sure, in an economic crisis like the present one, those costs would probably be higher, because more people would qualify for basic income payments than normal. But the PBO’s estimate shows the scale of the costs involved ― and given the size of the bailouts, it looks reasonable.
The idea of an emergency “pandemic basic income” is gaining steam fast.
In an emergency situation like this, the government could choose a very simple and direct way of ensuring the money is delivered ― simply send cheques to everyone for same amount, the basic income amount either for an individual or a couple.
This “universal demogrant” model of the basic income is the most expensive, in terms of the sheer amount of money the government has to push out the door.
But in a report this week, a group of academics at Saskatchewan’s Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy proposed just that: A $1,000-a-month basic income for all Canadians that they estimate has a gross cost of $11.6 billion a month.
That doesn’t include savings from other government programs, like welfare and workplace disability, that could be dovetailed into the basic income payments.
A targeted basic income “is a feasible, efficient, and equitable option for addressing income precarity during the ongoing health pandemic,” they wrote.
“It would provide a direct economic stimulus by putting money into the hands of the people most likely to spend it, and more importantly, into the hands of those most likely to need it.”
Emergency ‘pandemic basic income’
The idea of an emergency “pandemic basic income” is gaining steam fast. A group of more than 500 academics from around the world published a letter this week “calling on our governments to enact emergency basic income to save lives.”
The advocacy group Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) noted that Canada’s stimulus package includes an increase to the GST rebate. A much larger increase could be one quick way of instituting a basic income, the group argued.
“It’s not means tested ― you get it whether you lost your job, or don’t have one or whatever ― they need an infusion fast,” Sheila Regehr, BICN’s president, told HuffPost Canada.
Regehr noted that the progressive income tax first came into being during the First World War, “when (Canadian) governments asked themselves, how are we going to pay for this?”
They ended up adopting the income tax, which the U.S. had used to pay for the American Civil War a half century earlier. First introduced in Britain in 1799, and popularized by Karl Marx in the 19th century, the progressive income tax has become a permanent fixture of modern economies, and has proven to be one of the most effective tools in the government toolbox for reducing economic inequality.
“But it took that crisis for something hugely important in society to happen,” Regehr noted. “This could be one of those moments.”
Regehr worries what could happen at the peak of the outbreak, when many people may find themselves desperate and lacking basic supplies.
For her, it’s a personal concern. She worries about an aging in-law in New York, where the pandemic is on a rapid upward swing this week.
“When other people start running out of money, and they see this old Black man walking with food (from the supermarket), he is going to be a target. This is what we will quickly get to if we don’t get people the resources they need,” she said.
“Canada may think it’s a kinder, gentler place, but there are lots of people on the edge in this country and things can turn fast.”
Regehr sees Canada as a good place to try out a basic income. “We’re fortunate that we have done a fair bit of work on this,” she said, noting she has been in touch with Members of Parliament and Senators who are engaging in the issue.
“This is a crisis,” she said. “This is a time when paradigm-shifting change has to happen.”
Given that, let’s hope this idea doesn’t have to lie around until the next crisis for us to give it a shot.
Independent, March 18, 2020
We, a growing group of now over 500 academics and public figures on all continents, have signed the following open letter, calling on our governments to enact emergency basic income to save lives.
We are living in unprecedented times – as the Covid-19 virus spreads rapidly across the globe, it undermines the very foundations of the global economy.
And, just as pandemics cannot be dealt with using ordinary public health measures, global economic collapse requires more than traditional welfare policies.
Across the globe, businesses are going to the wall; jobs are being lost; the self-employed are without work; mortgages are being defaulted; savings are being run through; and rent cannot be paid. Societies where a large majority of the population works in the informal sector will be hit especially hard – beyond earnings, there is next to no safety net.
Our entire economic system relies on continual motion and right now, it is grinding to a halt. Without drastic government intervention, countless numbers will suffer, businesses will close, unemployment will skyrocket, and the economy will go into a steep recession and possibly even a second Great Depression.
It is time for governments to enact emergency universal basic income, ensuring that everyone in their jurisdiction has enough money to buy the food and other essentials they need to survive.
Alone, basic income will not be enough – migrants and detainees, for example, will need support specific to their circumstances, and evidently food and healthcare must be provided for all. But an unconditional basic income should play a central role in the emergency response to this crisis. Without it, lives will be lost.
Dr Sarath Davala, India Network for Basic Income, India
Dr Isabelle Guérin, French National Research institute for Sustainable Development, FR; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, US
Dr Guy Standing, FAcSS, Professorial Research associate, SOAS University of London, UK
Dr Asha Amirali, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Neil Howard, University of Bath, UK
Professor Barbara Harriss-White, (Emeritus), University of Oxford, UK
Dr Kamal A Munir, University of Cambridge, UK
Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, FC College, Lahore, Pakistan
Dr Pauline von Hellermann, Goldsmiths University, UK
Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz, University of Bath, UK
Professor Roy Maconachie, University of Bath, UK
Dr Philip Mader, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Zenobia Ismail, University of Birmingham, UK
Dr Luke Kelly, University of Manchester, UK
Professor Danny Burns, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Ciara Holden, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK
Dr Cordula Reimann, Core, Switzerland
Dr Inka Barnett, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Peter Manning, University of Bath, UK
Kevin Hernandez, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Aasim Sajjad, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Jerker Edstrom, Institute of Development studies, UK
Marian Carty, Goldsmiths University, UK
Dr Tooba Syed, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Dr Theo Papadopoulos, University of Bath, UIK
Emeritus professor Hilary Standing, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Hadas Weiss, The Madrid Institute for Advanced Study, Spain
Dr Indrajit Roy, University of York, UK
Dr Andrew Bowman, University of Edinburgh, UK
Dr Shahram Azhar, Bucknell University, US
SJ Cooper-Knock, University of Edinburgh, UK
Dr KP Kannan, Honorary Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Dr Becky Faith, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Tina Skinner, University of Bath, UK
Dr Jean-Benoît Falisse, University of Edinburgh, UK
Rupert Horlick, Extinction Rebellion, UK
Shreya Nanda, economist, UK
Dr Aseem Prakash, professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, India
Bruno Bonizzi, University of Hertfordshire Business School, UK
Dr Rajeswari S Raina, Shiv Nadar University, India
Dr Dhruv Raina, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Sadaf Aziz, Lums University, Pakistan
Professor Tatek Abebe, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Dr Miki Kashtan, author and facilitator, Bay Area Nonviolent Communication, US and Israel
Professor Louise Brown, University of Bath, UK
Dr Keetie Roelen, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Dr Elizaveta Fouksman, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford, UK
Prof Baroness Ruth Lister, Loughborough University & House of Lords, UK
Dr Theodore Nicolaides, NYU, USA
Dr Karl Widerquist, Georgetown University-Qatar, USA/Qatar
Professor Susana Narotzky, Department of jSocial Anthropology, University of Barcelona, Spain
Dr Andolie Marguerite, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Dr Pamela Karantonis, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Telemaque Masson, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France
Benedict Seymour, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK
Professor Graham Room, University of Bath, UK
Dr Marina Vishmidt, Goldsmiths, University of London
Professor William Gaver, Goldsmiths, University of London
Scott Santens, Basic Income Today
Christian Bouvard, vice président de l’Association pour l’Instauration d’un Revenu d’Existence, France
Professor James Copestake, University of Bath, UK
Professor Michael Howard, University of Maine, USA
Dr Ludek Stavinoha, University of East Anglia, UK
Dr Catherine Jere, University of East Anglia, UK
Dr Sara de Jong, University of York, UK
Dr Jens Lerche, SOAS University of London, UK
Professor Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Kimberly Walters, California State University, Long Beach, USA
Professor Nicola Mai, Kingston University London, UK
Dr Jamie Forth, Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr Aparna Nayak, California State University, Long Beach, USA
Vincent Liegey, Cargonomia Degrowth Research and Experimentation Center, Budapest, Hungary
Dr Christine L Jocoy, California State University, Long Beach, USA
Dr Sophie Bremner, University of East Anglia, UK
Andy Stern, president Emeritus, SEIU, USA
Frank Thompson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Fred Block, University of California, Davis, USA
J Young, Austin, TX, USA
Dawn Howard, NJ, USA
Oliver Warders, NY, USA
Gerald Howard, NJ, USA
Antonios Triantafyllakis, UBIE, Germany/Greece
Dr Jurgen De Wispelaere, University of Bath, UK
Barb Jacobson, Basic Income UK
Dr Eri Noguchi, Association to Benefit Children / Columbia University, USA
Roland Duchatelet, business leader, former member of the Belgian Senate
Dr Suryakant Waghmore, associate professor of Sociology, IIT-Bombay
Hilde Latour, Vereniging Basisinkomen / Mission Possible 2030, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Wim Kiezenberg, founder everyday.earth, France
Diane Pagen, LMSW, co-founder Basic Income March, co-founder Basic Income NYC, USA
Victor Chudnovsky, physicist/software engineer/activist, organiser of Basic Income Action, Seattle; Seattle WA, USA,
Professor James Ferguson, Stanford University, USA
Gaspard Koenig, founder of think-tank GenerationLibre, Paris, France
Dr Francie Lund, Social Policy Analyst, South Africa
Scott Baker, Public Banking Institute senior advisor, Common Ground-USA Board Member, Author of America is Not Broke!
Monica Sanchez de Ocaña, founding partner, Baobab Development Consultancy, Barcelona, Spain
Dr Simon Duffy, director of the Centre for Welfare Reform, Sheffield, UK
Juliet Schor, professor of Sociology, Boston College, USA
Dr Gregory E Ellcessor, assistant professor of Audiology at Ball State University Muncie Indiana, USA
Dr Hannah Hoechner, University of East Anglia, UK
Professor Arto Laitinen, Tampere University, Finland
Johanna Perkiö, Tampere University, Finland
Troy Hendeerson, lecturer in Political Economy, University of Sydney
Ping Xu, Founder, UBI Asia Pacific
Dr Julia Elyachar, associate professor of Anthropology, Princeton University, USA
Dr Kimberly R Kelly, California State University, Long Beach, USA
Mark Erickson, Skokie USA
Aoife Hegarty, Galway, Ireland
Natalie Barbosa, Manchester, UK
Pavel Vassiliev, Basic Income Geoblock, RF
Bop Hoek, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Ebony Grace Thompson, Sussex, UK
Dr Uma Rani, Switzerland
Michelle MacDonagh, London, UK
Brenda Lee Quiles Alvarado, Puerto Rico
Sarah Bracking, King’s College London, UK
Evamaria Langer-Dombrady founder and secretary of The First Hungarian
Unconditional Basic Income Association
Ursula Pfleger vice-chairman of The First Hungarian Unconditional Basic Income Association
Györgyi Szentpeteri chairman of The First Hungarian Unconditional Basic Income Association
Zita Stockwell-Szabadka vice-chairman of The First Hungarian Unconditional Basic Income Association
Jorge Pinto, Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society, University of Minho, Portugal
Lesley Jansen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
John Harriss, professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
James Mulvale, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Dr Samuel Arnold, Texas Christian University, USA
Sheila Regehr, chairperson, Basic Income Canada Network
Johannes Mehrer, Cambridge University, UK
Dr Ali Mutlu Köylüoğlu, Citizen’s Basic Income Research Development Culture and Dissemination Society, Istanbul, Turkey
Ashwin Subramanian, Centre for Modern Indian Studies, Goettingen, Germany
Nikola Boskovski, MD, Miami, Florida, United States
Dr Jenna van Draanen, University of British Columbia, Canada
Michael Anthony Lewis, professor at Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, USA
Alia Amirali, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Louise Stinchcombe, teacher, Exeter, UK
Ashutosh Pandey, student at Jindal School of Governance and Public Policy, India
Peter Brake, accountant, New Zealand
Julio Linares, Social Outreach Basic Income Earth Network, Guatemala
Dr Elise Klein (OAM), Australian National University
Halvor Haugan, Frontline AIDS, United Kingdom
Giulia Gaia,TA, Trinity Primary Academy, United Kingdom
Gabriela Cabaña, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Dr Leah Hamilton, Appalachian State University, NC, USA
Loriana Luccioni, PhD student, The University of Queensland, Australia
Talon J Powers, JD, San Diego, CA, USA
Fabio Waltenberg, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
Brett D Buckner, Minnesota, USA
Professor Frances Stewart, professor Emeritus, University of Oxford, UK
Jeremy Schwartz, associate professor of Economics, Loyola University Maryland, USA
Dr Kathryn J Perkins, California State University, Long Beach, USA
Fernando Freitas, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
Dr Rodney Dobell (PhD, MIT) Emeritus professor of Public Policy, University of Victoria, Canada
Sid Frankel, PhD, University of Manitoba, Canada
Gert Van Hecken, PhD, Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium
Cameron Thibos PhD, openDemocracy, USA
Geoff Taylor, St Clare’s, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Peter T Knight, Instituto Fernand Braudel, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Leandro Ferreira, chair of the Brazilian Basic Income Network
Dr Katharina Lenner, University of Bath, UK
Sam Gregory, chair of UBI Lab Sheffield, UK
Sadia Tasleem, lecturer, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, QAU, Islamabad, Pakistan
Professor Greg Marston, Basic Income Guarantee Australia, Australia
Robin Ketelaars, UBIE, Basic Income Avocat, The Netherlands
Brazilian Basic Income Network Executive Committee
Professor Philippe Van Parijs, UC Louvain, Belgium
Professor, Joshua Ruiz, Puerto Rico
John Baker, Emeritus professor, University College Dublin
Dr Kerrie Thornhill, Résolu Ltd
Michele Gianella, UBIE Italy
Dr Anjali Dutt, University of Cincinnati, USA
Dr Dario Azzellini, Cornell University, USA/Berlin, Germany
Christoph Meier, Farmer, Dominican Republic
Chris LaPlante, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Assistant professor Tony Hughes, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr Simon Parker, University of York, UK
Dr Tracy Smith-Carrier, King’s at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
Jeff Tangel, adjunct professor of Philosophy, Saint Xavier University Chicago
Hazel Gray, senior lecturer, University of Edinburgh
Paul Stoneman, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Will Stronge, director of Autonomy
Dave Fary, carpenter, Silver spring, MD, USA
Dr Andrew Watt, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr Michael Lew, University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Ofer Sharone, University of Massachusetts, USA
Dr Thibault Laurentjoye, EHESS, Paris, France
Dr Miguel Loureiro, Institute of Development Studies, UK
Gunmin Yi, Institute for Political & Economic Alternatives, South Korea
Professor Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy, São Paulo city councilman, former senator, EAESP/FGV-SP, Brazil
Nam Hoon Kang, professor, Hanshin University, Osan, Korea
The Honourable Kim Pate, CM, senator, Senate of Canada
Tyler Prochazka, chairman, UBI Taiwan
Anja Askeland, chair BIEN Norway
James Davis, MPP candidate Harvard Kennedy School
John LaRocco, Singapore
Dr James Morrissey
Josh McGee, Basic Income Australia, Melbourne, Australia
Jim Bryan, professor of Economics, Manhattanville College, USA
Tim Hollo, The Green Institute, Canberra, Australia, visiting fellow at RegNet, Australian National University
Mario Yaco, Peacetrust philosopher, Washington State, USA
Sjur Cappelen Papazian, Board member BIEN Norway
Tadashi Okanouchi, professor, HOSEI University, Tokyo, Japan
David Knezevic, MSW, RSW, Basic Income London, Woodstock, ON, Canada
Dr Liane Gale, BIGMN, Basic Income Guarantee Minnesota, BIWAG, Basic Income Women Action Group, Minnesota, USA
Professor Wayne Simpson, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Susan Abells, Victoria, BC, Canada
Professor Emeritus William H Cooper, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Professor Seungho Baek, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
For the full list of signatories, click here