What is a universal basic income?

It is one that charms and polarizes in equal measure, and its revolutionary simplicity is summed up in three words: cash for everyone. It is no surprise that the idea of a universal basic income (UBI) has elicited such waves of interest across time and space. In part this is precisely because it is an idea, and not merely a program.

Is universal basic income affordable?

This book argues that universal basic income (UBI) at an adequate level is affordable. The contributors approach the topic from the perspectives of three different countries—Australia, Canada, and Switzerland—to overcome objections that a universal program to keep all citizens above the poverty line would be too expensive to imple-ment.

Is a universal basic income sustainable?

However, the authors argue, a basic income of $2,000 (2011) or so is "clearly sustainable." The closest approximation we have to data on the effects of a universal basic income comes from the "MINCOME" experiment, in which two groups of Manitoba residents received a guaranteed minimum income from 1974 to 1979.