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
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Basic Income discussed at 6th Marx Commulane, May 2013
[BIKN – August 2013] The Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN) participated in South Korean leftists' conference, the 6th Marx Commulane in May 2013, Seoul, South Korea. Kang Nam Hoon, Kwen Jong Im, and Lee Kwang Ill presented papers on basic income. Information about...
Joe Weisenthal, “There's A Way To Give Everyone In America An Income That Conservatives And Liberals Can Both Love”
“Here's an idea for stimulating the economy: Free money for everyone, all the time, with no exceptions or conditions. …” Joe Weisenthal, “There's A Way To Give Everyone In America An Income That Conservatives And Liberals Can Both Love,” Business Insider May 13,...
MALAYSIA: Is Malaysia introducing a BIG?”
Malaysia’s new program called Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) that has some elements of the negative income tax (NIT) variant of the basic income guarantee. Receipt of benefits is not automatic, but those who are eligible need to apply by filling out a from. There has...
Paul Latimer, “An alternative to welfare may help Canadians”
“One idea that warrants further investigation is a guaranteed annual income or negative income tax. This would replace our current welfare system and would ensure Canadians had a certain minimum income.…” Paul Latimer, “An alternative to welfare may help Canadians,”...
Coppola, Francis. “Economic equivalence: job guarantee and basic income”
This article argues in support of the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG), relative to another proposed reform, the Job Guarantee (JG). Responding to two recent articles by L. Randall Wray criticizing basic income as inflationary, Francis Coppola castes doubt that Wray’s...
Blattman, Chris, “Dear governments: Want to help the poor and transform your economy? Give people cash”
In this blog post, author and political scientists, Chris Blattman, reports on a study he helped to organize, which shows that giving cash to poor people in a very poor country significantly increases both their employment rate and their employment income. The study...
Livable4All, “Job Fairy or Universal Livable Income: What is More Realistic?”
This article response to the allegation that basic income is unrealistic by arguing that the idea of full employment at a living wage is far less realistic. Livable4All, “Job Fairy or Universal Livable Income: What is More Realistic?” June 7, 2013
Yglesias, Matthew, “Good News About Unconditional Transfers to the Global Poor”
Yglesias, Matthew, “Good News About Unconditional Transfers to the Global Poor” In the latest of several articles on Basic Income for Slate magazine, Matthew Yglesias reports on a pilot project in Uganda. The project found “recipients of one-off lump-sum cash...
SOUTH KOREA: Kwen Moon Seok, steering committee member of Basic Income Korean Network dies
[BIKN – August 2013] Third, Kwen Moon Seok, a beloved steering committee member of the Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN), passed away in May 2013. He was only in his mid 30s and left his wife and an infant daughter behind. Before his death, he had devoted himself to...
Alberto Brugnoli and Alessandro Colombo (eds), Government, Governance and Welfare Reform: Structural Changes and Subsidiarity in Italy and Britain
Alberto Brugnoli and Alessandro Colombo (eds), Government, Governance and Welfare Reform: Structural Changes and Subsidiarity in Italy and Britain, Edward Elgar, 2012, 1 84844 477 5, hbk, xii + 183 pp, £65 Fundamental to the argument of this book are two different...
Broadbent, Ed, “Begin by hiking tax credits for working poor”
In this opinion piece, Ed Broadbent, former leader of the New Democratic Party, argues that Canada should take a small step in the direction of a basic income or a negative income tax by increasing the federal Working Income Tax Benefit, which provides a very modest...
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Time for an Economy Of, By and For the People
This article argues for basic income as a response to technological unemployment, The authors write, “because of increases in technology that replace workers, we need to face a very important reality that is never discussed – there may never be enough jobs.” Zeese,...