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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Karl Widerquist

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Day-Long Discussion Of “The Alaska Model” At The University Of Alaska-Anchorage, Karl Widerquist May 2011

A Day-Long Discussion Of “The Alaska Model” At The University Of Alaska-Anchorage, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

On April 22, 2011, I had the privilege of attending a conference at the University of Alaska-Anchorage discussing the book, Exporting the Alaska Model: How the Permanent Fund Dividend Can Be Adapted as Model for Reform Around the World. The book is edited by Michael W. Howard and me. It is due out early next year on Palgrave-MacMillan. This is my personal account of a conference held on Friday, April 22, 2011 at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska


Two Memoirs Tell The History Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist Dec 2010

Two Memoirs Tell The History Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend is closer to a basic income than almost any other policy in the world today. The lessons of how it was created and how it became so popular and successful are extremely important to the basic income movement. Two autobiographies available now tell different parts of the story of the Alaska Dividend. One is by Jay Hammond, the governor who, more than anyone else, is responsible for creating the fund and dividend. The other is by Dave Rose, the first executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. This review essay draws lessons for the basic …


Lessons Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist Dec 2009

Lessons Of The Alaska Dividend, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

At a time when progressive social policies are under attack across the industrialized world, the Alaska Dividend continues to be extremely popular. It distributes a yearly dividend to every man, woman, and child in Alaska without any conditions whatsoever. It has helped Alaska maintain one of the lowest poverty rates in the United States. It has helped Alaska become the most economically equal of all 50 states. And it has helped Alaska become the only U.S. state in which equality has risen rather than fallen over the last 20 years. Certainly Alaska is doing something right. As newsletter editor for …


I Have A Basic Income, Karl Widerquist Dec 2009

I Have A Basic Income, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

In a period of about eight months, I managed to save and invest enough money to get myself a small personal basic income. It was easy—if you get the kind of lucky breaks I got. I’m telling you this story only because it illustrates how much our economic fortunes are determined by luck, how favorably our laws treat people who own stuff (people who have obtained control of natural resources) and how much unearned income is available for redistribution.


Keeping The Global Recession In Perspective, Karl Widerquist Dec 2008

Keeping The Global Recession In Perspective, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

The global recession has been spreading and deepening for nearly a year. It could become the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and it has captured nearly all of the attention we, our media, and our leaders pay to economic issues. Perhaps we’re paying too much attention to it. I want to convince you in this editorial that a recession—even a major depression—is not an economic problem of the first magnitude. Our most pressing economic problems are distribution, and they exist whether we are in recession or not. Recessions appear to be a major problem primarily because …


The Economic Lesson Of 1938, Karl Widerquist Dec 2008

The Economic Lesson Of 1938, Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist

Economic events of 1938 are relevant to our handling of the global recession today.