Citizen’s Income Week on UK Poverty Post
August 26th, 2009 by Moussa Haddad Posted in Citizen's income, Livelihoods, UK poverty, Welfare reform
Reading Jenni Russell on welfare reform in the Guardian this week, much of what she wrote rang true, and chimed with our critique of the government’s approach. In particular, I was struck by how much the debate in the comments returned to the idea of a Citizen’s Income.
It’s a subject that provokes interest in a range of quarters, lauded for its simplicity, and for its economic benefits, praised by proponents of a land tax; and criticised by free-marketeers. So we’ve decided to open up the UK Poverty Post this week as a place to debate the issue.
We open today with the first of two pieces from Professors Colin Williams and Jan Windebank putting the idea of a Citizen’s Income in a historical and academic context. Later in the week, we will be hearing from Dan Paskins, who discusses his misgivings with the idea, and Dr Malcolm Torry, Director of the Citizen’s Income Trust, who outlines his reasons for supporting it. If you’d like to join the debate, please feel free to comment on anything that piques your interest, or to write a piece, get in touch in the usual way.
