A Basic Income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement.
The Royal Society of Arts Explains: [2 minutes]
BIEN Congresses
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Linkedin, Instagram, X – biencongress25 (at) gmail [dot] com
BIEN2024 was August 29–31 (Pictures and more coming soon)
Recent News, Opinion, and Research
Basic income makes the headlines in Belgium
On October 25, 2013, basic income made the front page of the Flemish left-of-centre daily De Morgen. The article referred to a new book authored by Peter De Keyzer, a chief economist at the bank BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels. In his book, entitled “Growth makes...
Interview: Daniel Häni on the Swiss Initiative
Dorothee Schulte-Basta spoke with Daniel Häni, one of the activists on the inititiative for Basic Income in Switzerland
Duncan Black, “Minimum income proposal worth considering"
With positive reference to the Swiss referendum, this column in the popular national paper, USA Today discusses Basic Income as something the United States should consider. Duncan Black, “Minimum income proposal worth considering,” USA Today, October 10, 2013.
Stumbling and Mumbling “Why not a basic income?”
This blog gives three reasons why BIG is less popular than it merits: selection effect, the power of reciprocity, and status quo bias. Stumbling and Mumbling “Why not a basic income?” Stumbling and Mumbling, October 16, 2013.
Podcast on Basic Income #2 (13/10/21)
An audio podcast on the lastest news of last week.
Copenhagen, Denmark: “Lectures with Philippe Van Parijs,” Nov. 1-2, 2013
Philippe Van Parijs, professor at the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, will give two lectures in Copenhagen on November 1 - 2. In the first, on Nov. 1, he will talk about his idea of financing a European...
UNITED STATES: Occupy Strategy Group includes BIG in its top 10 recommended strategic objectives
The Occupy Strategy Group has included the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) on its top 10 list of recommended strategic objectives. The group is an email list of over 100 people who have met to craft strategy for the Occupy Movement. The group reviewed surveys, research,...
Peter Frase, “Curious Utopias”
This blog shows how basic income has been dismissed both for being utopian and for being not utopian enough. The author, Peter Frase, is an editor at Jacobin and a Ph.D. student in sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. Peter Frase, “Curious Utopias,” Jacobin, May 14,...
Rich Smith, “A Radical Fix for the Social Safety Net: Replace It All With One BIG Idea”
[Craig Axford] Arguing the current safety net is a “messed up” tangle of confusing and poorly managed programs, Rich Smith endorses the basic income guarantee (BIG) as a means of both starting over and eliminating poverty. Citing Alan Sheahen’s recent book on the...
Erin Andersen, “To end poverty, guarantee everyone in Canada $20,000 a year. But are you willing to trust the poor?”
[Craig Axford] In 2010, a Canadian House of Commons committee on poverty released a report recommending a guaranteed basic income for every Canadian with disabilities. In Quebec, a task force also recommended a basic income guarantee of $12,000 for each of the...
Cult-Debunker Accuses Equal Life Foundation of Deceptively Using the Term, “Basic Income Guaranteed”
Robert W. Lester, a blogger who specialized in debunking cults, has accused the Equal Life Foundation (ELF) of deceptively using the term “Basic Income Guaranteed”—BIG with a “D” added at the end. For a while, ELF was using the term BIG with a D for a program that had...
Basic Income 2013 EU Signature Counter
[Craig Axford] Every morning at around 8 a.m., basic income guarantee campaigners in Europe receive an update from the European Commission on the number of signatures gathered in each country in support of the European Citizens’ Initiative for an Unconditional Basic...