Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge
Karl Widerquist discusses his new book, Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge (MIT Press 2024). The book is an accessible introduction to the simple (yet radical) premise that a small cash income, sufficient for basic needs, ought to be provided regularly and unconditionally to every citizen. Karl Widerquist discusses how UBI functions, showing how it differs from other redistributional approaches. He summarizes the common arguments for and against UBI and presents the reasons for believing it is a tremendously important reform. He briefly discusses the likely cost of UBI; options for paying for it; the existing evidence on the probable effects of UBI; and the history of UBI from its inception more than two hundred years ago through the two waves of support it received in the twentieth century to the third and largest wave of support it is experiencing now. Now more than ever, conditions in much of the world are ripe for such enthusiasm to keep growing.
FACILITATOR
Dr. Karl Widerquist, Georgetown University-Quatar.
DATE AND TIME
Wednesday May 22, 1:00 - 2:30.
REGISTRATION
Registration available here.
FEE
Free
ABOUT Karl Widerquist
Karl Widerquist is a professor of philosophy at Georgetown University-Qatar. He specializes in distributive justice—the ethics of who has what. He is a researcher, writer, and advocate for Universal Basic Income; the cofounder of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network; cofounder the academic journal Basic Income Studies; and former co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network. Next year he will publish his 11th book, Universal Basic Income: Essential Knowledge (MIT Press). He has appeared in many media outlets including the New York Times, the Guardian, and The Atlantic Monthly, which called him “a leader of the worldwide basic income movement.”
This Workshop is Co-Sponsored by: