.
Pre-distribute the common-wealth, to give everyone a small independent income. Then everyone can share and contribute, not just those in jobs.










Sharing the Common Wealth equally

Basic (Citizen's) Income

The Citizen's Income Trust promotes debate on the feasibility of a citizen's income by running seminars and conferences, publishing a newsletter and other publications, maintaining a library of resources, and responding to requests for information. A CITIZEN'S INCOME is an unconditional, non-withdrawable income payable to each individual as a right of citizenship.

NEW! As published in Citizen's Income Newsletter Sept, 2012: C I Newsletter link
Review of James Robertson's Advocacy of funding CI by Money Issue Often thought an idea from the crazy fringe, funding CI directly from new money issue (People's QE) is gaining credibility. That Banks should be stripped of their outrageous privilege of the banks in issuing 97% of all of our money is now well established. But who should issue our new money, and how should it be used? James Robertson, the founding father of the New Economics Foundation, says new money issue should be distributed as CI


Charles Murray: Advocates Basic Income Murray, a notorious right-wing thinker, in his new (2006) book 'In Our Hands: A plan to replace the welfare state' comes out in favour of giving everyone a tax-funded basic income of $10,000 per year. Brilliant! Of course the details are not quite so attractive, but all support for the BI idea is welcome?
Read a review of this important book...

Critic of BI wins Nobel prize Phelps wins the 2006 Nobel prize. No friend of Basic Income, his Big Idea is -- 'subsidize wages'. Yes, it is Phelps who is responsible for the expensive fiasco that is WFTC - working families tax credit. Gordon Brown, well-intentioned though he might be, could not see the flaws, and took it up.
Read more... also published in Citizens Income Newsletter 3, 2007

Basic Water Allowances: Flanders Acts (new Nov 2006) Resource Taxes are the idea, but how to make them work? Charging for water, the most basic resource there is hits the poorest hardest. Here's a clever scheme from Flanders: charge for water for each litre used -- that encourages conservation, but give every man, woman and child a *free* allowance of about a quarter of typical consumption. All others pay a little bit more. Neat! Extra incentive not to waste water! Click on the link to find out more

Lump of Labour Fallacy revisited (2005) I have argued that striving for 'full employment' is damaging, and that there can never be enough (real) jobs for all who want a one. This is dismissed by economists as the 'lump of labour fallacy'. Closer inspection shows that my fallacious reasoning has been shared by many highly placed politicians, and that the fallacy depends on some rather extreme assumptions.
We Can Conquer Unemployment (1986) Basic Citizen's Income: It will free people from the curse of jobs, and liberate them to do useful work for themselves. This was an early attempt to explain the benefits of BI, and why it is needed still.


Other sites which have much more information about Basic (Citizen's) Income and New Economics can be found in the Links on the left