Philippe Van Parijs

Yannick Vanderborght

Providing a basic income to everyone, rich or poor, active or inactive, was advocated by Paine, Mill, and Galbraith but the idea was never taken seriously. Today, with the welfare state creaking, it is one of the world’s most widely debated proposals. Philippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght present a comprehensive defense of this radical idea.

A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy

Basic Income

Christian Arnsperger

Etica Economica Y Social / Economic and Social Ethic (Paidos Estado Y Sociedad / Paidos State and Society)

Our politicians insist that we live in a time of unprecedented prosperity, yet more and more Americans are pointing out that the richest 1% of our society holds more wealth than the bottom 90% put together. In this timely book, economist Philippe Van Parijs has a simple plan for addressing not only poverty but other social ills: everyone would be paid a universal basic income (UBI) at a level sufficient for subsistence. Everyone, including "those who make no social contribution-who spend their mornings bickering with their partner, surf off Malibu in the afternoon, and smoke pot all night." Van Parijs argues that a UBI would reduce unemployment, improve women's lives, and prevent the environmental damage caused by overproduction and fast growth. At the heart of his proposal is the intention to secure real freedom for all, because it offers the greatest possible opportunity to those with the least opportunities. He acknowledges that an idle surfer might not deserve a UBI, but that the surfer's good luck would be no different than the good fortune enjoyed by those who benefit from the current distribution of resources. Responses to this controversial proposal vary: Some are in favor of a basic income, but only if it's tied to work. Others find the entire proposal unrealistic and unaffordable. Almost all agree, however, that it is time for us to talk about this issue. NEW DEMOCRACY FORUM: A series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns. The series editors (for Boston Review), Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious debate about fundamental issues-both on and off the agenda of conventional politics.

What's Wrong With a Free Lunch?

Van Parijs, Philippe

Pour pouvoir façonner la Belgique de demain, nous avons besoin d’une vision qui, sans être politiquement réalisable à court terme, n’en prétend pas moins décrire les contours d’un avenir désirable et soutenable. Pour ce petit bout de planète, il existe un destin possible bien plus enthousiasmant que la dystopie de la dislocation. A nous de le penser sans naïveté et de le réaliser sans faiblesse. Philippe Van Parijs est professeur invité aux Universités de Louvain et Leuven et Robert Schuman Fellow à l’Institut universitaire européen (Florence). Lauréat du Prix Francqui en 2001, il a enseigné à Harvard et Oxford et dirigé la Chaire Hoover d’éthique économique et sociale de l’Université de Louvain depuis sa création en 1991 jusqu’en 2016.

Belgium. Une utopie pour notre temps

Bruce Ackerman

Anne Alstott

Volume V in the acclaimed Real Utopias Project series, edited by Erik Olin Wright. Are there ways that contemporary capitalism can be rendered a dramatically more egalitarian economic system without destroying its productivity and capacity for growth? This book explores two proposals, unconditional basic income and stakeholder grants, that attempt just that. In a system of basic income, as elaborated by Philippe van Parijs, all citizens are given a monthly stipend sufficient to provide them with a no-frills but adequate standard of living. This monthly income is universal rather than means-tested, and it is unconditional - receiving the basic income does not depend upon performing any labor services or satisfying other conditions. It affirms the idea that as a matter of basic rights, no one should live in poverty in an affluent society. In a system of stakeholder grants, as discussed by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, all citizens upon reaching the age of early adulthood receive a substantial one-time lump-sum grant sufficiently large so that all young adults would be significant wealth holders. Ackerman and Alstott propose that this grant be in the vicinity of $80,000 and be financed by an annual wealth tax of roughly 2 percent. A system of stakeholder grants, they argue, "expresses a fundamental responsibility: every American has an obligation to contribute to a fair starting point for all."

Philippe Van Parijs

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