Universal basic income: Venture capital for the people

The idea of a paying everyone a universal basic income is gaining ground. Could it work? Stuart Watkins reports.

Persistent and harmful features of capitalist societies that have proved immune to previous policy changes would seem to demand a new and radical approach. Large and growing inequalities of wealth and income, stagnant economies that increasingly provide only low-paid and precarious work, robots taking all the jobs, bloated and unaffordable welfare states creating perverse work incentives and poverty traps, zombie businesses kept alive and distorting markets by governments fearful of the social consequences of letting them die might all these seemingly complex problems not all be interlinked, and be fixed with a simple one-size-fits-all remedy?

The vision

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Stuart Watkins
Comment editor, MoneyWeek

Stuart graduated from the University of Leeds with an honours degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, and from Bath Spa University College with a postgraduate diploma in creative writing. 

He started his career in journalism working on newspapers and magazines for the medical profession before joining MoneyWeek shortly after its first issue appeared in November 2000. He has worked for the magazine ever since, and is now the comment editor. 

He has long had an interest in political economy and philosophy and writes occasional think pieces on this theme for the magazine, as well as a weekly round up of the best blogs in finance. 

His work has appeared in The Lancet and The Idler and in numerous other small-press and online publications.