Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter July 17, 2018

Are Basic Capital Versus Basic Income Debates Too Narrow?

  • Rajiv Prabhakar EMAIL logo
From the journal Basic Income Studies

Abstract

Basic income and basic capital are two common ideas for redesigning distribution. Basic income provides people with a regular income from government. Basic capital provides people with a lump-sum grant. An important part of scholarly debate concentrates on the merits of basic income versus basic capital. This paper claims that these debates are too narrow. First, current debates overlook the way that a chief inspiration for both ideas, Thomas Paine, wanted basic capital and basic income to be complements not substitutes. Second, it is more instructive to compare basic capital or basic income with a wider set of alternatives than with each other. Widening the debates would benefit the discussion of a basic capital or basic income.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the editorial and referee comments on an earlier version of this paper. All remaining errors are my own.

References

Ackerman, B., & Alstott, A. (1999). The stakeholder society. New Haven: Yale University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Ackerman, B., & Alstott, A. (2004). Why stakeholding?. Politics & Society, 32(1), 41–60.10.1177/0032329203261096Search in Google Scholar

Ackerman, B., Alstott, A., & Van Parijs, P. (Eds.). (2005). Redesigning distribution: Basic income and stakeholder grants as cornerstones for an egalitarian capitalism. London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar

Attansio, O. P., Banks, J., & Wakefield, M. (2005). The effectiveness of tax incentives to boost (retirement) saving: Theoretical motivation and empirical evidence. OECD Economic Studies, 39, 145–172.10.1920/wp.ifs.2004.0433Search in Google Scholar

Bergmann, B. R. (2004). A swedish-style welfare state or basic income: Which should have priority?. Politics & Society, 32(1), 107–118.10.1177/0032329203261101Search in Google Scholar

Bergmann, B. R. (2008). Basic income grants or the welfare state: Which better promotes gender equality? Basic Income Studies, 3(3), 1–7.10.2202/1932-0183.1128Search in Google Scholar

Crawford, R., Disney, R., & Emmerson, C. (2012). Do up-front tax incentives affect private pension saving in the United Kingdom. Institute for Fiscal Studies Working Paper W12/05. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.Search in Google Scholar

Cunliffe, J., & Errygers, G. (2003). ‘Basic income? Basic capital!’ Origins and issues of a debate. Journal of Political Philosophy, 11(1), 89–110.10.1111/1467-9760.00168Search in Google Scholar

De Henau, J. (2017). Costing a feminist plan for a caring economy: The case of free universal childcare in the UK. In H. Bargawi, G. Cozzi, & S. Himmelweit (Eds.), Lives after austerity: Gendered impacts and sustainable alternatives for Europe (pp. 168–188). London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Fitzpatrick, T. (2011). Social paternalism and basic income. Policy & Politics, 39(1), 83–100.10.1332/030557311X546334Search in Google Scholar

Friedman, M. (1962). Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Search in Google Scholar

Gough, I. (2016). Potential benefits and pitfalls of a universal basic income. The Guardian, 10 June. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/10/potential-benefits-and-pitfalls-of-a-universal-basic-income (accessed January 22, 2018)Search in Google Scholar

Haagh, L. (2011). Basic income, social democracy and control over time. Policy & Politics, 39(1), 43–66.10.1332/030557311X546316Search in Google Scholar

Jackson, B. 2012. Property-owning democracy. A short history. In M. O'Neill & T. Williamson (Eds.), Property-owning democracy: Rawls and beyond (pp. 33–52). Oxford: Blackwell.10.1002/9781444355192.ch2Search in Google Scholar

Lehto, O. (2018). Basic income around the world. The unexpected benefits of unconditional cash transfers. Available at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56eddde762cd9413e151ac92/t/5a5f54ff53450ae87509190a/1516197120863/Universal+Basic+Income.pdf (accessed June 27, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Olin Wright, E. (2004). Basic income, stakeholder grants and class analysis. Politics & Society, 32(1), 79–87.10.1177/0032329203261099Search in Google Scholar

Olin Wright, E. (2015). Eroding capitalism: A comment on stuart White's ‘basic capital in the egalitarian toolkit’. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 32(4), 432–439.10.1111/japp.12128Search in Google Scholar

Paine, T. (1987 [1797]). Agrarian justice. Foot, M. & I. Kramnick (Eds.), The Thomas Paine reader. London: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar

Percy, A. (2017). Universal public services: A larger life for the ordinary person. In Social Prosperity Network (2017), Social prosperity for the future: A proposal for universal basic services (pp. 9–16) at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/sites/bartlett/files/universal_basic_services_-_the_institute_for_global_prosperity_.pdf (accessed January 22, 2018)Search in Google Scholar

Portes, J. (2017). Universal basic services. In Social prosperity network (2017), Social prosperity for the future: A proposal for universal basic services (pp. 17–27) at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/sites/bartlett/files/universal_basic_services_-_the_institute_for_global_prosperity_.pdf (accessed January 22, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Reed, H., & Percy, A. (2017). Technical appendix II. Shelter & food basic income supplement local governance UK budget effects. In Social prosperity network (2017), Social prosperity for the future: A proposal for universal basic services (pp. 41–55) at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/sites/bartlett/files/universal_basic_services_-_the_institute_for_global_prosperity_.pdf (accessed January 22, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Van Parijs, P. (1997). Real freedom for all, what (If Anything) can justify capitalism?. Oxford: Clarendon Press.10.1093/0198293577.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

White, S. (2003). The civic minimum: On the rights and obligations of economic citizenship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0198295057.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

White, S. (2010). A modest proposal? Basic capital versus higher education subsidies’. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 12(1), 37–55.10.1111/j.1467-856X.2009.00392.xSearch in Google Scholar

White, S. (2011). Basic income versus basic capital: Can we resolve the disagreement? Policy & Politics, 39(1), 67–81.10.1332/030557311X546325Search in Google Scholar

White, S. (2015). Basic capital in the egalitarian toolkit? Journal of Applied Philosophy, 32(4), 417–431.10.1111/japp.12129Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2018-07-17

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 16.4.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/bis-2018-0015/html
Scroll to top button