Michael Lewis. Professor, Hunter College. Several years ago, I wrote this piece about UBI experiments, more precisely unconditional cash experiments. It focused on an experiment that had been run in Finland. There have been many more experiments, some of them called “pilots,” since then. So, this is a good time to take stock. In this piece […]
Soomi Lee. Blog Editor. I attended the 2026 BIEN conference in Toronto, where I had the opportunity to moderate a book launch session on South Korea’s basic income blueprint. The book, UBI from Idea to Reality: A Blueprint for Basic Income in Korea, by Jong-sung You, Nam Hoon Kang, and Seungju Lee, is ambitious yet […]
Soomi Lee. USBIG Blog Editor A sweeping new synthesis of unconditional cash trials in poorer countries finds people spent, saved, and worked more, not less. Give a low-income household some cash and let them do whatever they want with it. That is the whole idea behind an unconditional cash transfer. Supporters say it treats people […]
For three years, a group of low-income Americans received an extra $1,000 every month, no strings attached. There were no forms to fill out to prove they deserved it. The money just arrived. The researchers behind it wanted to test one old worry. The worry is that unconditional cash makes people stop working. The project […]
Over the past decade, cities and counties across the United States tried a bold idea. Give people cash, with no strings attached, and see what happens. These programs went by the name guaranteed income. A new study steps back from that noise and asks a quieter question. Not whether cash works, but what these programs […]
US Can Afford Universal Basic Income A new study using 57 years of Census data finds the cost of a poverty-eliminating UBI has fallen sharply over time. One of the most common objections to universal basic income is simple: we cannot afford it. A new peer-reviewed article published in Basic Income Studies challenges that assumption, […]
Soomi Lee (Blog Editor) Basic income pilot programs have garnered attention, with initiatives like the SEED program in Stockton leading the way. These programs, often studying the effects on individuals’ financial and mental wellbeing, have provided us with the potential benefits of guaranteed income. However, their impact on local economies has been somewhat constrained due […]
Source: Christopher Weyant, New Yorker Cartoons As my book, Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge, discusses, the traditional approach to poverty and inequality relies on conditional programs designed to make most forms of aid to the disadvantaged consistent with mandatory participation. Programs with genuine conditions cannot eliminate poverty, homelessness, or economic destitution because they have to have some punishment for […]
Michael Lewis I recently attended the 21st Annual Basic Income Conference, which was held in Chicago, Illinois. While there, I moderated a panel on universal vs. targeted cash benefits. One of the presentations on that panel was focused on the crucial topic of marginal tax rates (MTRs). As I watched that presentation, it occurred to […]
Significant structural disadvantages for people of color exist in the United States. These disadvantages will not go away until U.S. citizens work together to eliminate them. UBI will not eliminate structural disadvantages, but it can help. Most people of color are workers, and half of people of color are women, and so all of the […]
