The Basic Income Podcast

The Stockton SEED demonstration has drawn national attention as a modern basic income trial. Recently, we got the first reports from basic recipients there, who are receiving $500 a month, funded by the Economic Security Project. The results back up a lot of what we've already seen from cash transfer trials, but we also have some powerful stories of personal transformation, assisted by the extra cash. These stories provide powerful first hand accounts of what a little economic security can do. Sukhi Samra, Director of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, joined the podcast to talk about what we've seen so far in Stockton.

For most of the late 20th century, having a job provided you with enough financial security to have a decent life in the United States. But today, millions of American workers are living in extreme precarity, just one emergency expense away from financial destitution. A new initiative called the Workers Strength Fund is aiming to combat this problem using unconditional cash.

If we were to fund a basic income of $1,000 a month with a wealth tax, a carbon tax, some program consolidation and deficit spending, how much would your bank account increase or decrease after your income and current government assistance are factored in? A new project, the UBI Calculator (ubicalculator.com), seeks to answer this question down to the dollar for many of the UBI plans being proposed today. The project's creator, Conrad Shaw, joined the podcast to discuss the UBI Calculator and why he built it.

Recently we reached out to our audience asking for questions on basic income. This episode takes on three big ones: will rent and other costs increase, eating up the benefits of the UBI? How could a basic income fit into a national budget with other competing priorities such as single-payer healthcare and free community college? How might we forge a path to a national basic income?

As a reminder, you can support our work at the Basic Income Podcast by visiting glow.fm/basicincome.

Recently, legislation was introduced in Massachusetts to launch a state-funded basic income trial. The bill would create a pilot project involving 300 families over three years. We spoke with one of the legislators, Rep. Tami Gouveia, proposing this pilot about what is motivating it, and what it could achieve. The legislation is listed as H1632 in the state house and S84 in the state senate.

Robert Stayton proposes an outside-the-box idea for how to provide both ample clean energy and a basic income on the local, state or national level: solar dividends. This proposal would leverage the abundance of available solar energy with the regulatory ability to increase the price at which solar energy is purchased into the grid. To read more about Stayton's proposal and the book that details it further, go to solardividends.org.

The favorite basic income advocate of many supporters is Martin Luther King Jr., who led the Poor People's Campaign. This campaign has been revived in modern times by Rev. Liz Theoharis and Rev. Dr. William Barber, which looks at the issues facing poor people holistically. This includes issues as diverse as climate change, worker's rights, housing and economic empowerment. Importantly, the campaign puts poor people at its center as a driving, shaping force. Rev. Theoharis joins the podcast to discuss the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

In this discussion episode, Jim lays out his ideas on how we should think about basic income in relation to other benefit programs like unemployment insurance and the Earned Income Tax Credit. We get into topics like whether basic income should count as taxable income, and the difference between the social safety net and the social contract.

Also, we now have a new way you can support the podcast! To donate to support our operational costs, and, if we reach a certain level, to promote the podcast, go to https://glow.fm/basicincome.

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Basic income has been heralded as a policy that can partially address racial inequities in our economy and social benefit system, but how would the goals of racial equity inform basic income policy? Jhumpa Bhattacharya of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development joins the podcast to discuss this issue, and the vital importance of countenancing our racial history as we design future economic policy.

As basic income gains more recognition and interest, new proposals and ideas for what a basic income should look like are starting to emerge. While these proposals are occasionally studied on a one-off basis, the basic income conversation didn't necessarily have a single hub where one could evaluate policies side by side. The UBI Center, founded by Max Ghenis, seeks to change that by providing economic breakdowns of leading basic income proposals. Max joined the podcast to discuss his work, what motivates it, and his evaluation of Andrew Yang's Freedom Dividend.