Financing Basic Income

This Palgrave Pivot second edition argues that basic income is, in fact, affordable. The contributors approach the topic from the perspectives of three different countries—Canada, Switzerland, and Australia—to overcome objections that a universal program to keep all citizens above the poverty line would be too expensive to implement. They assess the complex array of revenue sources that can make universal basic income feasible, from the underestimated value of public program redundancies to new and so far, unaccounted publicly owned assets. This new edition adds an analysis for financing basic income in the United States, as well as considering the basic income potential in a country of far more modest economic resources, Portugal. The COVID-19 pandemic is discussed in a new Prologue, demonstrating the need for universal economic security as a precautionary measure for unforeseen crises. New research and compelling analyses are included throughout, to provide support for a dual basic income proposal.