Scott Santens
Editor of Basic Income Today
EDITOR’S PICKS
Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues To Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest
Half of adults who say they lost a job due to the coronavirus outbreak are still unemployed By: KIM PARKER, RACHEL MINKIN AND JESSE BENNETT. It’s been roughly six months since the coronavirus outbreak sent shockwaves through the U.S. economy. While the labor market has recovered somewhat and early stock market losses have been reversed, many Americans continue to face deep financial hardship. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that, overall, one-in-four adults have had trouble paying their bills since the coronavirus outbreak started, a third have dipped into
Latest Articles
Not only is basic income necessary, it’s also sustainable and achievable
The debate on universal basic income has gained momentum in South Korea
Social Security for All?
‘Feels Like They Are Just Waiting for Us to Die’
Income Inequality
GoodDollar Begins Delivering Universal Basic Income Globally via Blockchain
By: Lawrence Wintermeyer. — With enforced shutdowns driving governments to enact emergency stimulus measures and airdrop funds into citizens’ …
Study shows cities have stopped providing middle-class work in recent decades — especially for Black and Latino workers.
The urban job escalator has stopped moving Study shows cities have stopped providing middle-class work in recent decades — …
The dignity in UBI is in being unconditionally there for each other
By: David Brancaccio and Daniel Shin Millions of eligible Americans received an emergency aid payment of $1,200 earlier this year when …
Money and happiness are more strongly related now than in the past, and represents another argument for UBI
Money buys even more happiness than it used to Jean Twenge Many factors determine happiness, but one has stirred considerable …
Pilots & Experiments
St. Paul, Minnesota, might test basic income using CARES Act money
St. Paul could become the latest American city to provide low-income residents with a guaranteed monthly income as part …
California’s Long Beach City Council to vote on the first step to create a UBI program
By: HAYLEY MUNGUIA — Should the Long Beach government give monthly cash payments to its residents? That’s a question the …
Basic income could virtually eliminate poverty in the UK at an annual cost of 3.4% of GDP
Intuition is wrong when it comes to calculating the true cost of basic income – the UK can easily …
Three-year UBI pilot to be launched in Germany, funded by over 140,000 people
By Robert Köhler — What change would 1200 euros per month make? The idea of an unconditional basic income …
The Social Debate
17 percent of Canadians now see basic income as their topmost issue
By: Kerri Breen. – Canadians want Ottawa to stay focused on the coronavirus pandemic and the economy during the new session …
The US Safety Net Is Degrading by Design
By Mimi Abramovitz, Deepak Bhargava and Tammy Thomas Miles. — The pandemic has thrown millions of people out of work while mean-spirited government …
How the Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act could end poverty in the U.S.
By: Noah Berlatsky. — Earlier this month, Congress failed to pass Republicans’ $300 billion coronavirus economic relief bill. Democrats refused …
A new study from Rwanda is the latest evidence for just providing people money
By: Kelsey Piper. — In the last decade, organizations working to improve the lives of people in poor countries have …
Andrew Yang
Why Andrew Yang’s Push for Universal Basic Income No Longer Seems Unrealistic
Why Andrew Yang’s push for a universal basic income is making a comeback By: Yelena Dzhanova KEY POINTS: For …
Andrew Yang: It’s a ‘ridiculous fantasy’ to think America’s economy will snap back to normal
Andrew Yang: It’s a ‘ridiculous fantasy’ to think America’s economy will snap back to normal By: Matt Egan, CNN Business …
Andrew Yang: What Congress can do to avoid a new Great Depression
Andrew Yang: What Congress can do to avoid a new Great Depression By Andrew Yang for CNN Business Perspectives Andrew …
The Chair of the Fed is Starting to Sound More Like Andrew Yang
Why Jerome Powell is Starting to Sound Like Andrew Yang by Martin Tillier Andrew Yang’s run for the Democratic …
Success Stories
Canadian CERB teaching people what basic income might feel like
Canadian universal basic income experiment has been life-changing for those unemployed amid coronavirus One economist calls it a “modern …
Stockton’s Basic Income Demonstration Shows Value of Solid Economic Foundation — Especially During Pandemics
Stockton has been testing a universal basic income since 2019 — it’s working The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, a …
Four years into the 12-year UBI experiment in Kenya, lives are transformed
Could universal basic income change aid forever? For four years, the villagers of Magawa in rural western Kenya have …
Finland’s basic income experiment: new research reveals significant diversity in participants’ experience
The report on Finland’s 2017-2018 basic income experiment illustrates great variance in how the experiment affected participants’ lives. University …
The Basics of UBI
Coalition calls on federal Liberals to bring in a basic income to address gender inequity in Canada
By: By Brendan Kennedy. – A coalition of nearly 4,000 individuals and organizations is calling on the federal government to implement a …
Basic income must become part of a new settlement, for a new post-Covid age
By: Patrick Hurley. – I read with real interest Anna Coote’s article earlier this week, which questioned the arguments and assumptions …
Universal Basic Income and Mental Health
What the history of social psychiatry tells us about preventing mental illness. By: Matthew Smith Ph.D. Essentially, there are …
“A universal basic income should be the post-pandemic legacy we leave the next generation.”
Now, more than ever, we need a state that lifts people out of poverty and gives them the equality …
Workforce Automation
From 1990 to 2007, each robot in manufacturing replaced 3.3 workers on average nationally
MIT economist Daron Acemoglu’s new research puts a number on the job costs of automation. Peter Dizikes | MIT …
The rush to deploy robots as a result of the coronavirus outbreak
PUBLISHED MON, MAR 2 20208:57 AM EST UPDATED WED, MAR 11 202010:35 AM EDT Rebecca Fannin, special to CNBC.com …
41 Percent of Companies Are Accelerating Plans To Automate As Coronavirus Forces Workers To Stay Home
Almost half of company bosses in 45 countries are speeding up plans to automate their businesses as workers are …
New fast food robot costs $3 per hour
In a test kitchen in a corner building in downtown Pasadena, Flippy the robot grabbed a fryer basket full …