Scott Santens
Editor of Basic Income Today
EDITOR’S PICKS
22,219 People Apply for 110 Slots in Shreveport Basic Income Pilot
By: Marlo Lacen SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The City of Shreveport says more than 22,000 people applied for the guaranteed income program before the midnight deadline Monday. Now, the city says the 22,219 applications will be narrowed down to 110, the total number of households that will receive $660 a month for a year. With 187,593 residents as of the 2020 Census, the number of applications represents nearly 12 percent
Latest Articles
Americans are beginning to report more difficulty paying routine bills
By: Rick Newman Original Post: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/people-are-running-out-of-money-213744569.html One mystery of the labor shortage is the missing paycheck: How long can people choosing
Welfare recipients forced to attend in-person appointments despite Omicron surge
People are being told they will have their benefits cut if they don’t attend job agency appointments, as government
California may soon experiment with a basic income of $500 a month for students in the California State University system
By: Scott Jaschik Original Post: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/01/18/california-may-try-basic-income-college-students California may soon experiment with giving $500 a month to low-income students in
AI is quietly eating up the world’s workforce with job automation
By: Valerias Bangert. Original article appeared in Venture Beat: https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/08/ai-is-quietly-eating-up-the-worlds-workforce-with-job-automation/ The debate around whether AI will automate jobs away is heating
Irish government to pay basic income to 2,000 artists for three years
Approximately 2,000 artists, actors, musicians and other performers are set to be paid a basic income by the Irish
Income Inequality
Opinion: How Guaranteed Basic Income Can Spur Black Entrepreneurship
At its core, a guaranteed income is about more than giving people money: it’s about resetting the terms of
Pope calls for universal basic income, shorter working day
In a video message to the Fourth World Meeting of Popular Movements on Saturday, Pope Francis called for a
The powerful message behind ‘Maid’
Opinion by Amy K. Matsui The new Netflix series “Maid” — largely based on the bestselling memoir of the
Illinois LGBTQ leader calls for a citizen dividend of $570 a year to combat income inequality
By Nara Schoenberg When Brian Johnson first started noticing articles about income inequality in 2016, he had his doubts. The
Pilots & Experiments
Basic income would not reduce people’s willingness to work
A basic income would not necessarily mean that people would work less. This is the conclusion of a series
Maine contemplating basic income pilot
Bipartisan support exists for a 2019 basic income proposal that would supplement the safety net for Mainers in need.
Meet the mayor-elect who wants to tax marijuana to pay for a guaranteed basic income program in New York’s 4th-biggest city
By Jason Lalljee Original article: https://www.businessinsider.com/ubi-basic-income-weed-marijuana-tax-rochester-mayor-malik-evans-2021-12 Rochester, New York, is the fourth largest city in the state, according to
Guaranteed basic income program begins in Tacoma; families get $500/month for one year
By Lisa Stiffler Original article: https://www.geekwire.com/2021/guaranteed-income-program-backed-by-twitters-jack-dorsey-begins-in-tacoma-families-get-500-month/ The 110 Tacoma, Wash., families chosen to participate in a guaranteed income program received
The Social Debate
Florida Democrat wins special election after promising UBI
By: Stephanie Akin. After a largely self-financed campaign that promised “universal basic income” from the government of $1,000 a month
Opinion: Democrats should be courting Romney, not Manchin
By Max Ghenis Original article: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/587590-democrats-should-be-courting-romney-not-manchin When President Joe Biden announced the Build Back Better framework in October, he called it
More than 5,400 families in the U.S. have received basic income pilot cash since 2018
Momentum has grown for UBI-style programs By Sarah Holder Original article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-28/the-u-s-cities-giving-residents-direct-cash-payments At least 20 guaranteed income pilots have launched
The Child Tax Credit is money well spent
Parents and caregivers have put the money toward debt and household expenses, U.S. Census Bureau surveys have found. By Ella
Andrew Yang
Success Stories
In Mississippi, a long-running guaranteed basic income program is helping Black mothers
By Zachary Green Original article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-mississippi-a-long-running-guaranteed-income-program-is-helping-black-mothers In the U.S. 30% of families headed by Black mothers live below the
U.S. cities try new way to help the poor: cash
By Andy Sullivan Original article: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cities-try-new-way-help-poor-give-them-money-2021-12-21/ WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, dozens of U.S. cities
Miracle Money: How a guaranteed basic income fund is helping San Francisco’s homeless
By Zachary Green and Jennifer Winter Original article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/miracle-money-how-a-guaranteed-income-fund-is-helping-san-franciscos-homeless Guaranteed income pilot programs are sweeping the country, but until
After a year of basic income in Hudson, NY, the employment rate of recipients has doubled
The pilot organizers of Hudson’s basic income pilot hope that gathering five years of results will show how much
The Basics of UBI
Opinion: Yes, we can afford Universal Basic Income in South Africa
By Aliya Chikte and Gilad Isaacs Political will and strategic taxation channels could help bridge the yawning divide between
Guaranteed Minimum Income and How It relates to UBI
As the idea of different versions of UBI continues to gather support among the public, attention is turning to
Adopting basic income scheme in Wales could improve health for all
A new report published today (22.06.21) by Public Health Wales suggests that introducing a basic income scheme in Wales could be a catalyst for
Basic Income Will Increase Workers’ Bargaining Power
The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought calls for a universal basic income. While it’s no silver
Workforce Automation
MIT Researchers Just Discovered an AI Mimicking the Brain on Its Own
By Eric James Beyer Original article: https://interestingengineering.com/ai-mimicking-the-brain-on-its-own In 2019, The MIT Press Reader published a pair of interviews with Noam Chomsky and
Walmart is using fully driverless trucks to ramp up its online grocery business
By Frank Holland Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/08/walmart-is-using-fully-driverless-trucks-to-ramp-up-its-online-grocery-business.html KEY POINTS Walmart and Silicon Valley start-up Gatik said that, since August, they’ve
Well-designed UBI can make automation welfare-improving for all US workers regardless of skill or age
by Seth G. Benzell and Victor Yifan Ye Despite clear economic benefits of new digital technologies, slow median wage
Do we need humans for that job? Automation booms after COVID
By: MATT O’BRIEN and PAUL WISEMAN. Ask for a roast beef sandwich at an Arby’s drive-thru east of Los