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
Mayyasi, Alex, “The Basic Income Guarantee
This blog uses Harper Lee’s experience writing To Kill a Mockingbird as an example to support the basic income guarantee. Alex Mayyasi writes, “In the 1950s, Nelle Harper Lee was a single woman living in New York City. … [S]he worked as an airline clerk and wrote in...
Huffington Post, 17-minute video discusses BIG: “America The Poor
The Huffington post included Allan Sheahen, author of the Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security, in a 17-minute panel discussion of BIG as “a solution to reversing this ever increasing problem,” of poverty. It’s online at:...
Belgium: Flemish green party supports basic pension for all
The Flemish green party Groen! has recently suggested the implementation of a basic pension for all in Belgium. According to green MP Wouter De Vriendt (5 August 2013), the amount of such a basic income for the old should be fixed at 1000EUR per month. On top of it,...
Martin, Melissa, International Perspectives on Guaranteed Annual Income Programs
ABSRACT: Addressing the issue of poverty in Canada is an important challenge to policymakers. Establishing an income floor below which no citizen falls is a critical public policy goal for the Canadian welfare state. In responding to this policy issue, recent debate...
Walker, Jesse, Two articles on libertarian populism include a discussion of basic income
Libertarianism, in the United States, is a political ideology dedicated to the smallest possible government. Yet, there is a long history of at least some libertarians favoring basic income. In two articles in the libertarian magazine, Reason, Jesse Walker discusses...
Canadian Basic Income Network looking for volunteer with design experience
The Canadian Basic Income Network (BICN) is urgently looking for a volunteer who can us assist with designing brochures, posters and related promotional material. No professional background required, but ideally someone with relevant experience. Anyone interested...
The NewsFlash and BI News request volunteers
The Basic Income News and its accompanying NewsFlashes are entirely written, edited, and maintained by volunteers. We need help from volunteers. We need people to write articles, to translate articles, and to help improve the appearance of website and the email...
INDIA: Basic Income Pilot Project releases an impressive list of findings.
Several NGOs in India have conducted a pilot project on basic income over the last two years. At a conference this May, the researchers released an impressive list of findings below. (Acronyms used below: IES, Interim Evaluation Survey; FES, Final Evaluation Survey;...
Harford, Tim, "The Undercover Economist: How to give money away"
A commentator for the Financial Times, Britain’s leading business newspaper, has tentatively endorsed BIG. Tim Harford writes, “Helping the poor in the most obvious way of all is starting to look attractive.” Harford, Tim, " The Undercover Economist: How to give money...
Simulacrum, “Three trends that will create demand for an Unconditional Basic Income”
In a post at the blog Simulacrum, "Liu" discusses three trends that will create a demand for an unconditional basic income: The fall of the middle class, the long term decline in demand for human labor, and the detachment of cultural production from the market....
Torry, Malcolm “There are many convincing arguments in favour of a Citizen’s Income”
In this blog, Malcolm Torry discusses a new book, Money for Everyone: Why we need a Citizen’s Income, which argues for a Universal Basic Income, or as it is termed here, a Citizen’s Income. He discusses the different approaches the book uses in arguing for the policy,...
Perkio, Johanna, “Basic Income Proposals in Finland, Germany and Spain”
This paper compares BI models and discussion in Finland, Germany and Spain. Perkio, Johanna, “Basic Income Proposals in Finland, Germany and Spain,” Discussion Paper No. 2, Transform! European network for alternative thinking and political dialogue, 2013, online at:...