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]

Recent News, Opinion, and Research
Krugman, Paul – Sympathy for the Luddites?
Wolfgang Müller – BI News Paul Krugman discusses in this article the effect of technological development on unemployment for low skills as well as high skills workers. This effect can be seen everywhere in the world and increases inequality. He concludes that the old...
Blattman, Christopher, Nathan Fiala, and Sebastian Martinez “Credit Constraints, Occupational Choice, and the Process of Development: Long Run Evidence from Cash Transfers in Uganda”
Abstract: How to stimulate employment and the shift from agriculture to industry in developing countries, with their young, poor, and underemployed populations? A widespread view is the poor have high returns to investment but are credit constrained. If so, infusions...
Hoon Kang, Nam and Popho E. S. Bark-Yi, “Special Issue: Basic Income and Issues of Alternative Economic Strategies”
[BI News – August 2013, BIKN contributed to this report] A Korean academic journal, Marxism 21, published a special edition on basic income entitled, “Basic Income and Issues of Alternative Economic Strategies.” Marxism 21 is a quarterly academic journal published by...
VIDEO: Bloomberg national Television discusses BIG
Al Sheahen, author of the Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security, discussed BIG on Bloomberg Television. His interview, by Mark Crumpton on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line," was broadcast nationally live on July 22 and is now available online at...
Sheahan, Allan, “Jobs are not the answer”
[Wolfgang Müller – BI News] In this article, Al Sheahen argues that the labor market has changed. Full employment is very unlikely in the future. Globalization and improvement of technology will eliminate more jobs. This development demands a break of “the link...
Permanent Fund Hits New High and its Dividend Hits New Low
The Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) has reached an all-time in a year in which Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) will probably reach its lowest level since 1987. The PDF is Alaska’s small, variable, yearly basic income. It’s financed by the returns of the APF. You’d think, then, that the fund and the dividend financed by it would move up and down together. And they do—on average, over the long-run, with a time-lag. But they don’t necessarily move together in any particular year, and this year the difference is extreme.
Malta joins campaign for right to unconditional basic income
Wolfgang Müller – BI News Malta has joined the campaign for an unconditional basic income in the European Union. This campaign now takes place in 22 countries. It’s aim is to get enough signatures on a petition to force the European Commission to examine basic income...
Allan Sheahen’s BIG tour continues
Allan Sheahen, author of the Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security, had been touring the United States to promote his book and campaign for BIG. (See earlier story on BI News.) His proposal for BIG has recently stirred up controversy from economists...
Geiser, Urs “Basic income for all. Old utopian revived on Swiss streets”
[Wolfgang Müller – BI New] A campaign for an unconditional basic income in Switzerland claims to have achieved the required signatures for a nationwide vote. This article illustrates the work of the campaigners and their experiences along with some of the controversy...
FRENCH: Special issue of journal Mouvements
The left-wing French journal Mouvements devoted its entire Spring 2013 issue to basic income. This substantial volume includes no less than 20 papers on the various aspects of basic income. While most authors are very much in favour of it, some are more skeptical....
Sophia Parker (ed.), The Squeezed Middle: The pressure on ordinary workers in America and Britain
Sophia Parker (ed.), The Squeezed Middle: The pressure on ordinary workers in America and Britain, Policy Press, 2013, 1 4473 0894 2, hbk, xii + 169 pp, £65, 1 4473 0893 5, pbk, xii + 169 pp, £21.99 This collection of essays tackles a major issue: the declining living...
Charles Kenny, “For Fighting Poverty, Cash Is Surprisingly Effective”
[BICN - Jenna van Draanen – June 2013] Kenny writes an article for Bloomberg Business Week that challenges prevalent attitudes about alleviating poverty with cash transfers. He cites two particular studies that involved grants given to people living in Uganda and also...