Jean-Marie Monnier

The Foundations and Funding of Basic Income as Primary Income

Abstract The thesis of cognitive capitalism leads to a radical reform of the distribution of wealth. A basic primary income (BPI) scheme is the keystone of such reform. This paper shows that the justification of a BPI can also be founded on a re-examination of the notion of productive labor linked to the rise of the cognitive dimension of labor. This conception of basic income as primary income completes ethical and social justifications of BI. Our argumentation is structured in two connected parts. After an overview of cognitive capitalism, the first part is dedicated to the main foundations of our proposal of BPI. The second part concerns the articulation between our proposal for BPI and the modalities of funding one. We explain how the question of funding BPI is closely linked to its theoretical justifications.

The French System of Direct and Indirect Family Transfers and the Principles of Justice

This paper uses the theoretical framework proposed by the “post-welfarist” authors in order to highlight the principles of justice that underlie implicitly or explicitly the family benefits and direct income tax systems in France. Three principles are identified : the principle of the ability to contribute, the principle of compensation, and the principle of solidarity or guaranteed minimum resources. This approach is useful, in particular, to stress how socio-demographic and earned-income characteristics are taken into account in the French system of direct and indirect family transfers and the role of individual responsability in the minimum income schemes.