Scott Santens
Editor of Basic Income Today
EDITOR’S PICKS
The Future of Work: A VICE News Special Report
The next Industrial Revolution is upon us, and scientists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers are warning of an imminent paradigm shift in the future of work. In partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations, VICE talks to industry leaders and laborers to learn how radical developments in automation and artificial intelligence are set to change the world of work as we know it. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, VICE’s Future of Work explores technology’s threat to the
Andrew Yang puts his universal basic income plan to the test
Eleven Nobel Laureates Who Have Endorsed Universal Basic Income
Amazon Is Planning to Open Cashierless Supermarkets Next Year
Income Inequality
Study: 79% of parents are providing on average $7,000 of financial support to their adult children at a cost of $500 billion per year
Article originally published on Oct 2, 2018. Many millennials are having a tough time financially launching their adult lives …
One in Six British Workers Have Too Much Education for Their Job
Millions of British workers are overqualified for their jobs, according to figures published Monday. Sixteen percent of 16-to-64-year-olds in …
Universal basic income vs jobs guarantees: which one will make us happier?
Two competing (or, possibly, complementary?) proposals for resolving income inequality and the hole that four decades of demand-side Reaganomics …
Amazon—and 56 Other Corporations—Took Your Tax Dollars
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bernie Sanders, castigator of the one percent, is a millionaire now. So are Kamala Harris and …
Pilots & Experiments
The Future of Basic Income in Finland
The April 2019 elections in Finland saw a shift away from the status quo and the resulting government now …
Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Alvin Tedjo is promising to revive their Basic Income Pilot Project if the party is elected in 2022
Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Alvin Tedjo is promising to revive the Universal Basic Income Project, which was cut by …
County in California Looks at Basic Income for Young Adults
Recognizing that those leaving the Foster Care system are among the most vulnerable in Santa Clara County, Supervisor Dave …
Quebec is Considering a 20-Year Basic Income Pilot
Organizations are coming together in a common alliance for all of Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspesie, and Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and are wanting to …
The Social Debate
The Complicated Politics of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend
What if we just give people money? This is the question propelling several new books and that’s been taken …
Is Andrew Yang being unfairly ignored?
(CNN) Quick. Tell me the six highest-polling Democrats in the 2020 Democratic race. The first few are easy: Joe …
Why everyone deserves a right to recreation
What is it about Americans that makes us so afraid of admitting that people ought to have free time …
The Feminist Case for Andrew Yang’s Freedom Dividend
Andrew Yang may well be the most feminist candidate running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, although it might …
Social Justice
America is failing at providing economic dignity, and universal basic income is perhaps one policy that can change that
For years, the government of Bhutan has enshrined gross national happiness as its guiding light. Though national leaders had …
Higher taxes on the wealthy and on business should be introduced to fund universal basic income and other measures to combat poverty
Up to €3 billion a year in higher taxes on the wealthy and on business should be introduced to …
Student Debt Is Stopping U.S. Millennials from Becoming Entrepreneurs
Article originally published April 26, 2019. Up to 60% of millenials (soon to be the largest living adult generation) …
Success Stories
My parents give me $2,333 a month
Article originally posted on Nov 12, 2018. Not long ago, my wife, a composer, asked me if I would …
Stockton woman says guaranteed income program has been life-changing
View Video at KCRA STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) —$500 a month with no strings attached. More than 100 Stockton residents …
Testimony of Kenya’s basic income beneficiaries
After the article “A Critical Poverty Eradication Experiment in Kenya”, published in the last issue of the BIEN News …
Lessons from a one-family basic income demonstration
Chuck Fassi, 49, a self-described introvert with a heavy New England accent, has spent much of the past two …
The Basics of UBI
An unconditional basic income floor permits everyone to fail. And that’s a good thing.
The opportunity to fail is a privilege afforded to a narrow subset of Americans. Risk and reward are two …
Instead of personal tax credits, everyone in Ireland could start each week with €75 ($84)
Give everyone €75 a week. All adults regardless of whether they are in employment or not, regardless of their …
Basic Income as a Policy Lever: Can UBI Reduce Crime?
The idea of a universal basic income (UBI)—an unconditional payment, without means-test or work requirement—has recently seen a resurgence …
Why Legendary Economists Have Liked Universal Basic Income.
Is socialism on the march in the U.S., as President Donald Trump warned in the State of the Union …
Workforce Automation
Fast-food industry on a path to be the first to fully automate
KEY POINTS: • Panera Bread loses close to 100% of its workers every year. • For fast-food chains employee …
The Robots Are Coming…To Free You
In this series Luke explores the Eight Modern Giants introduced by Economist Guy Standing in his recent report Basic …
Automation Could Force Millions of Women to Find New Jobs
The study, released Tuesday, shows technological advancements affect the genders nearly evenly. That finding upends the notion that automation hits …
Code-breaking quantum computers are significantly closer to reality than anyone suspected
Many people worry that quantum computers will be able to crack certain codes used to send secure messages. The …