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  • Published: 1 June 2017
  • ISBN: 9780141985497
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320

Basic Income

And How We Can Make It Happen




The essential guide to understanding the real economics behind a universal basic income

Shouldn't everyone receive a stake in society's wealth?
Could we create a fairer world by granting a guaranteed income to all?
What would this mean for our health, wealth and happiness?

Basic Income is a regular cash transfer from the state, received by all individual citizens. It is an acknowledgement that everyone plays a part in generating the wealth currently enjoyed only by a few. Political parties across the world are now adopting it as official policy and the idea generates headlines every day. Guy Standing has been at the forefront of thought about Basic Income for the past thirty years, and in this book he covers in authoritative detail its effects on the economy, poverty, work and labour; dissects and disproves the standard arguments against Basic Income; explains what we can learn from pilots across the world and illustrates exactly why a Basic Income has now become such an urgent necessity.

  • Published: 1 June 2017
  • ISBN: 9780141985497
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320

About the author

Guy Standing

Guy Standing has a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge. He has held professorships at the University of Bath and SOAS, University of London, following a long career at the International Labour organisation in Geneva, and has advised the UN, World Bank and governments around the world on labour and social policy. He is currently a professorial research associate at SOAS. In 1986 he co-founded the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) and now serves as its honorary co-President. He has been invited to speak on the precariat and basic income in over 350 locations since his bestselling book The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class was first published in 2011. He lives in Switzerland and is a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences.

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Praise for Basic Income

Basic Income is an idea whose time has come, and Guy Standing has pioneered our understanding of it - not just of the concept but of the challenges it is designed to meet: rapid automation and the emergence of a precarious workforce for whom wages derived from work will never be enough. As we move into an age where work and leisure become blurred, and work dissociated from incomes, Standing's analysis is vital.

Paul Mason

Praise for The Precariat: 'A very important book' Noam Chomsky. 'Buy Guy Standing's book, The Precariat. Or nick / borrow it' John Harris,

The Guardian