Boston Basic Income

At the turn of the 20th century, many of the world's currencies were pegged to gold.  Gold was an international monetary standard.  And then it wasn't.  What happened?  Was there something special about gold that led us to choose it as our standard money?  Did something happen that caused gold to stop being special?  Under what conditions is gold a useful form of money?

What is the appropriate amount of basic income for a society?  How do we figure it out?  Under what conditions would it make sense to set the amount of the payout at a level that's high enough to cover people's basic needs?  When is it appropriate for the amount to be lower than this subsistence level?  What about higher?  To what extent is it useful to try to determine a subsistence level in the first place?

Neoliberalism is often portrayed as an enemy of the left.  But self-proclaimed neoliberals might tell you that their goal is to harness the power of markets for the good of humanity.  That doesn't sound so bad.  Yet neoliberal ideology is often associated with a failure to promote human well-being.  Could it be that something is missing in the neoliberal understanding of how to use markets to humanity's advantage?  Could that something be basic income?

We often discuss how basic income might affect people's willigness or desire to work.  That's the labor supply.  Labor demand is the extent to which employers want to hire people in the first place.  What does it mean for there to be "insufficient labor demand"?  And how does basic income change things?

For our long-term survival and prosperity, we need to be careful about how we manage our resources.  How does basic income fit into a plan for resource conservation?  How can it help?  How might it hurt?

This week's session includes seven featured guests to discuss these questions.

Kate McFarland is the associate director of the Center for Ethics and Human Values at The Ohio State University and the former editor of Basic Income News.

Peter Barnes is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author who has written about citizens' dividends and the shared ownership of—and responsibility for—our natural resources.

Deia Schlosberg is a filmmaker whose recent documentary, "The Story of Plastic," explores our plastic pollution crisis.  Her upcoming "Bootstraps" docu-series examines the human impact of basic income.

Derek Van Gorder is a filmmaker, YouTuber, and frequent Boston Basic Income participant.  His work explores Consumer Monetary Theory and the philosophy and economics of basic income.

Diane Pagen is a social worker and long-time basic income activist.  She organized last year's Basic Income March in New York City, which inspired marches in 29 other cities.

Conrad Shaw is a UBI researcher, writer, and creator of the UBI calculator.  He is also co-producer on Deia Schlosberg's forthcoming "Bootstraps" docu-series.

Michael Howard is a philosophy professor, president of USBIG, and co-editor of the "Basic Income Studies" journal.

To help frame our discussion, we have a short article and video.  The article is by Michael Howard from 2012 in which he argues for a carbon cap and dividend as a step toward basic income.

https://scholars.org/contribution/cap-carbon-emissions-and-pay-dividends-citizens-strategy-unite-americans-against

The video is 20-minute edit by Derek Van Gorder of Alex Howlett describing the concept of a "natural rate" of basic income.

https://youtu.be/lTwim8TK_cg

Previous related Boston Basic Income topics have included

https://youtu.be/tVWfInD2jLk — BBI #16: Climate and the Environment

Image by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

Featured guests Robert Hockett and Aaron James join us to discuss their new book, "Money From Nothing.."

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647222/money-from-nothing-by-aaron-james/

In the book, Hockett and James argue that the Fed can take a greater role in managing our economy's money for the benefit of the people.  We'll talk to them about basic income and other important goals the government can achieve when our monetary system is allowed to reach its full potential.

For optional reading/listening, we have a short podcast interview with Aaron James in which he discusses the role of the Fed, the nature of money, and what makes it possible for our society to implement a basic income.

https://news.uci.edu/2020/10/05/uci-podcast-at-the-intersection-of-economics-and-political-philosophy/

Previous related Boston Basic Income topics have included:

https://youtu.be/7_tG_QBfR54 — BBI #20: National Debt

To what extent is it useful to frame basic income as a moral issue?  Righteous-sounding rhetoric can be a powerful persuasive device, but does it help for basic income experts to think about the issue in moral terms?

This week's session brings in five featured guests to discuss these questions.

Bethany Burum is a social psychologist and lecturer and Harvard University.  She and her colleagues study cultural evolution and use game theory to explain human social behavior.

Michael Lewis is a professor of social work at Hunter College.  He has published widely on the topic of basic income and he was a co-founder the US Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in 1999.

Kate McFarland is the associate director of the Center for Ethics and Human Values at The Ohio State University and the former editor of Basic Income News.

Karl Widerquist is a philosophy professor at Georgetown Qatar.  He is a former co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), as well as a co-founder of both the USBIG and Basic Income News.

Derek Van Gorder is a filmmaker, YouTuber, and frequent Boston Basic Income participant.  His work explores Consumer Monetary Theory and the philosophy and economics of basic income.

For optional reading, we have a 2018 blog post by Alex Howlett entitled, "Justice Is Overrated."

https://www.greshm.org/blog/justice-is-overrated/

Previous related Boston Basic Income topics have included:

https://youtu.be/hgD2CGlZuC0 — BBI #5: Moral Concerns

https://youtu.be/n-V3Ps9Hd2A — BBI #22: Meritocracy and Entitlement

https://youtu.be/IFMycDcQDKQ — BBI #73: Moral Foundations

Image by JJ Jordan on Pexels

(https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-black-dress-holding-balance-scale-3054065/)

Our society is becoming increasingly indebted.  This is creating financial instability and slowing down our economy.  Some people suggest that the solution is to have periodic "debt jubilees" in which the debts of private individuals are completely forgiven.  This process can quickly become complicated.  What about the people who are depending on cash flows from those debts being paid?

What would happen if the government paid people's debts for them?  How does that compare to an ongoing basic income that makes it easier for people to pay their own debts?  If we periodically have to press a reset button on our debt, is it a sign of a deeper problem in our economy?

For optional reading, we have a recent article from Democracy Journal by Richard Vague entitled, "It's time for a Debt 'Jubilee'"

Previous related Boston Basic Income topics have included:

https://youtu.be/7_tG_QBfR54 — BBI #20: National Debt

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Especially when it comes to our personal finances, we have a culture of shame and secrecy surrounding money.  Why is money so hard to talk about?  Is it a bad thing?  Is this "money shame" a problem for society or is it useful in some way?  Is it both?

Today, people go to great lengths to hide their poverty *and* to hide their wealth.  How would basic income influence how we feel, how we think, and how we talk about our personal finances?

Featured guest Conrad Shaw will dig into these questions with us.  As a writer, Conrad has explored the intersection of basic income and human nature.

For optional reading, we have a brand new Medium article by Conrad entitled, "The Shame that Binds Us."

https://medium.com/basic-income/the-shame-that-binds-us-700a66375a61

Photo by Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan on Public Domain Pictures

It's International Basic Income Week 2020 and we're living in the future.  But how close are we to making basic income a reality?  How far have we come and how far do we still have to go?  Does the world even agree on how to think about, or talk about basic income?  What will it take to get basic income supporters and skeptics on the same page?

To help us sort out these and other questions, we're bringing in featured guest Jason Burke Murphy.  Jason is a philosophy professor and political organizer who has been writing about basic income for over a decade.  He also serves on the board of directors for the US Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG).

For optional reading, we have a 2016 article by Jason entitled "Basic Income as Proposal, as Project, and as Idea."

https://basicincome.org/news/2016/06/basic-income-as-proposal-as-project-and-as-idea/

Previous related Boston Basic Income topics have included: "Skepticism of the Idea," "Basic Income vs. Job Guarantee," and "A World Without Basic Income"

Photo by Stefan Bohrer