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 next annual BIEN Congress will occur in Wrocław, Poland on 15-17th July 2027 https://biencongress2027.org/
The theme will be Basic Income and the Spirit of Solidarity: Pathways to Justice and Equality. Call for papers will be up soon.
The last annual BIEN Congress occurred August 19th-22th at the Toronto Metropolitan University.
See pictures from the 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói here.
Recent News, Opinion, and Research
My failure to change Canada’s basic income narrative
A journey to convince the Liberal Party of Canada to include a promise to implement basic income as a commitment to the electorate should they win re-election.
United States: Basic Income becomes more prominent at the Democratic Party 4th Debate
It seems that it is no longer just Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang who is speaking about basic income (his version of it) at Democratic Party Debates. And although basic income is still a minor issue debated at these events, it is relevant to acknowledge...
End the threat of economic destitution now
Karl Widerquist (This article was originally published by Open Democracy, 17 September 2019) UBI is the opposite of something for nothing. It is the just compensation for all the one-sided rules of property and property regulations that society imposes on individuals....
International: Basic Income supportive economists are awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics
Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee. Picture credit: dailyO Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer were awarded the Economics Nobel Prize this year. That alone would not represent a huge novelty, given the standard these professionals and scholars have set in...
Canada: Political candidates in Thunder Bay discuss Basic Income
Basic Income seems to be a hot issue to debate at the local elections run in Thunder Bay (Ontario, Canada). Ever since the cancellation of the Ontario basic income pilot project, by the Doug Administration, discussions over basic income type of policies have been...
The justification for basic income is ethical
Guy Standing explains “the real reasons for wanting to support a basic income is a matter of common justice.”
Canada: Green Party is more inclined to creating jobs rather than financing a basic income
Elisabeth May. Picture credit to: Mission City Record. Elisabeth May, Canada’s Green Party leader has spoken about a “robot tax” which, according to the party’s Platform, focuses on large companies (exempting slam businesses) laying off employees due to...
Basic Income as 40 Acres and a Mule
This whole program is voluntary...The men don't have to...if they don't want to. But we need you to starve them to death if they don’t. -“Milo Minderbinder,” Joseph Heller, Catch-22 Basic Income does something virtually no other policy in the modern economy can do: it...
Estonia: Governmental officials are convinced basic income is not even worth a feasibility study
The Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) As reported before, an Estonian collective of basic income activists, led by Jaanus Nurmoja, delivered a petition to the Social Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu), calling for the investigation of...
The documentary “UBI, our right to live” is now available on YouTube
Credit Picture CC (Generation Grundeinkommen, Stefan Bohrer) The film, directed by Alvaro Orùs, is now available on Pressenza’s youtube channel. The 41 minutes long documentary focuses on Universal Basic Income (UBI), retracing its history, explaining its rationale,...
Exporting the Alaska Model: An early version now available for free download
An early version of the book, Exporting the Alaska Model, is available for download for the first time. This is possible because most academic publishers allow authors and editors to post early versions of their works on their person websites. A preview, written in...
Is It Time To Talk About Universal Basic Income?
Talk of a universal basic income has been in the news a lot recently, but what does it all mean?