Description
Governments in the US, the UK and other nations around the world routinely consider and, in some cases, experiment with reforms of their income support systems. The basic income guarantee, a universal unconditional income grant, has received increasing attention from scholars as an alternative to the kinds of reforms that have been implemented. This book explores the political, sociological, economic, and philosophical issues of the basic income guarantee. Tracing the history of the idea, from its origins in the late eighteenth century through its political vogue in the 1970s, when the Family Assistance Plan narrowly missed passage in the US Congress, it also examines the philosophical debate over the issue. The book is designed to foster a climate of ideas amongst those specifically interested in the income support policies and more widely for those concerned with public, welfare and labour economics. Its coverage will enable readers to obtain an in depth grounding in the topic, regardless of their position in the debate.
Table of Contents
Contents: Foreword, Guy Standing; Acknowledgments; An introduction to the basic income guarantee, Michael Lewis, Steven Pressman and Karl Widerquist. History: In the shadow of Speenhamland: social policy and the old Poor Law, Fred Block and Margaret Somers; Inheritance and equal shares: early American views, John Cunliffe and Guido Erreygers; The guaranteed income movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Robert Harris; A retrospective on the negative income tax experiments: looking back at the most innovate field studies in social policy, Robert A. Levine, Harold Watts, Robinson Hollister, Walter Williams, Alice O'Connor and Karl Widerquist. Debate: Basic income in the United States: redefining citizenship in the Liberal State, Almaz Zelleke; Basic income, liberal neutrality, socialism, and work, Michael W. Howard; Does she exploit or doesn't she? Karl Widerquist; Perhaps there can be too much freedom, Michael Anthony Lewis. Evidence: Income guarantees and the equity-efficiency tradeoff, Steven Pressman; Have the 1996 welfare reforms and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit eliminated the need for a basic income guarantee in the United States? James B. Bryan; Back to work incentives in a dynamic perspective: an application to French labour markets, Thierry Laurent and Yannick L'Horty; Social minima in Europe: the risks of cumulating income-sources, Stephen Bouquin. Proposals: The political economy of the basic income grant in South Africa, Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings; The approval of the basic income guarantee in Brazil, Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy; The basic income guarantee in Europe: the Belgian and Dutch back door strategies, Yannick Vanderborght; The cost of eliminating poverty in Canada: basic income with an income test twist, Derek Hum and Wayne Simpson; Can a negative income tax system for the United Kingdom be both equitable and affordable? Randall Bartlett, James Davies and Michael Hoy; Index.
