Mike Alberti and Kevin C. Brown recently published two in-depth articles on the history of the guaranteed income movement in the United States. The first discusses the moment in the late 1960s and early 1970s that the guaranteed income was a widely-discussed policy proposal in the United States. During that period the U.S. conducted four pilot projects studying a guaranteed income and a (water-down) proposal to introduce a national guaranteed income passed the House of Representatives by a wide margin, only to fail narrowly in the Senate. The second article discusses the change in values that caused the guaranteed income to fall out of mainstream politics in the United States in the 1980s. A third article is planned to cover the recent history of the guaranteed (basic) income movement in the United States.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson meet in March 1966. King favored guaranteed income as a method for eliminating poverty.
Remapping Debate is a news website with offices located in the Flatiron District of New York City. It is committed to original reporting. Sponsored by the Anti-Discrimination Center, Remapping Debatecovers the full spectrum of domestic public policy issues.
Mike Alberti has worked for Remapping Debate since its launch, and is now its chief correspondent. Mike graduated with a B.A. in English from Vassar College in 2009. Email: ma@remappingdebate.org
Kevin C. Brown is a staff reporter at Remapping Debate. He holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Carnegie Mellon University. Kevin is also the creator and host of Remapping Debate’s “History for the Future” interview series, which he started in 2010 at WRCT-Pittsburgh. Email: kb@remappingdebate.org
FIRST ARTICLE: Alberti, Mike and Kevin C. Brown, “Guaranteed income’s moment in the sun,” Remapping Debate, April 24, 2013
https://www.remappingdebate.org/article/guaranteed-income%E2%80%99s-moment-sun
SECOND ARTICLE: Alberti, Mike and Kevin C. Brown, “Loss of support for guaranteed income reflects radical shift in values,” Remapping Debate, April 24, 2013
https://www.remappingdebate.org/article/loss-support-guaranteed-income-reflects-radical-shift-values
