Lab explores universal basic income

Stanford philosopher Juliana Bidadanure is leading an initiative focused on fostering discussions about universal basic income and analyzing previous and ongoing unconditional cash experiments across the world. Facebook Twitter Email - As officials in several U.S. cities consider experimenting with universal basic income, a Stanford lab aims to educate policymakers and the public about the latest research on what happens when people receive unconditional cash on a regular basis. The Stanford Basic Income Lab, founded by philosophy professor Juliana Bidadanure, aims to foster discussions about various aspects of universal basic income and to gather and analyze a growing body of research on UBI experiments in countries across the world. (Image credit: Getty Images) Universal basic income, or UBI, refers to a range of programs in which members of a community receive a regular sum of money from the government or a private entity with no strings attached. Tech leaders Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, political scientist Charles Murray and other scholars have suggested the idea as a way to address the loss of jobs from rapid advances in artificial intelligence and automation as well as the general rising income inequality in the United States. Several American cities, including Stockton and Santa Monica in California, are already conducting or about to start their own basic income pilots. Others, such as Chicago, are considering proposals.