Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center launches online forum
The University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and its publication Maine Policy Review have created a new digital publication series titled “Maine Policy Perspectives.”
The online forum consists of a roundtable discussion of pressing policy issues that are under debate by policymakers at the local, regional, national and international levels.
Adhering to the nonpartisan commitment of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, “Maine Policy Perspectives” brings together world-renowned experts and local policy specialists to debate all sides of an emerging policy issue from a variety of academic, sociocultural and professional standpoints.
The first edition of “Maine Policy Perspectives” is available online. It features a roundtable discussion of universal basic income, or UBI, a policy proposal to give every individual regardless of personal economic condition or employment status a monthly or annual stipend.
The participants in the roundtable discussion come from a variety of backgrounds and they approach UBI based on its expense, current social programs, the disruptiveness of technology, the opportunity costs of exploring other options, the rising costs of living, increases in economic inequality, a desire to simplify welfare programs, as well as the moral and ethical implications of the program.
Proposals or ideas for future roundtable debates can be emailed to Daniel Soucier, editor of “Maine Policy Perspectives,” at daniel.s.soucier@maine.edu.
More information about “Maine Policy Perspectives” is on the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center website.