North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) is a network made up of two national organizations, U.S. Basic Income Guarantee (USBIG) and Basic Income Canada Network (BICN). These two organizations are committed to promoting discussion of Universal Basic Income (UBI) a policy proposal which would provide periodic cash payments to all members of some designated political community without means test or work requirement. As part of this effort NABIG holds annual conferences, alternating each year at a location in the U.S. and one in Canada. This year’s conference was held in May 2018 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Last year’s was held in New York City in June 2017 at The Silberman School of Social Work and Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, both of Hunter College. What follows is a set of short essays written by people intimately involved in these two networks. They set out to raise and address a number of questions which come up frequently in UBI debates and may be of use to those new to the UBI discussion, as well as those who are more familiar with it.
Basic Income In Canada: What’s in a Name?
By: Sheila Regehr, Chairperson of the Basic Income Canada Network, a retired federal public servant and former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare.
Two Objections to Universal Basic Income
By: Michael A. Lewis, Professor of Social Work, Hunter College
Arguing for universal basic income: precariousness, not the end of work
By: Michael W. Howard, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maine
A Universal Basic Income (UBI) may affect the labor market. So what?
By: Eri Noguchi, MSW, MPA, PhD, and Chief Operating Officer of the Association to Benefit Children
Work and Basic Income: A Decommodification Perspective
By: Kate McFarland, Former Editor of Basic Income News; Ph.D., Philosophy, Ohio State University
Ending Poverty in the U.S. with a Basic Income
By: Almaz Zelleke, Associate Professor of Practice in Political Science at NYU Shanghai
