Asia Pacific’s Economic Future Conference

Tyler Prochazka (Chinese 2014), Elyse Mark (Chinese 2014) and James Davis (Chinese 2016), 2017 ADF recipients, held a series of multicultural and bilingual activities throughout Taiwan discussing the philosophical foundations of Universal Basic Income and the economic feasibility of such a policy. They were able to engage the Taiwanese public, from high school students, to university, to average citizens, about what basic income may mean for a Taiwanese context information. In the process, they also held round-table discussions with international scholars, such as Philippe Van Parijs, the famous author and founder of Basic Income Earth Network, and Sarath Davala, the UNICEF basic income trial lead researcher. Finally, in March they held a two-day international conference on the theme, “Asia Pacific’s Economic Future,” inviting scholars from around the region and world to discuss the challenges faced by Asia and if UBI is an appropriate mechanism to address it.