Karl Widerquist

Karl Widerquist is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, specialising in political philosophy. His research is mostly in the area of distributive justice—the ethics of who has what. He holds doctorates in political theory from Oxford University (2006) and economics from the City University of New York (1996). He is the author of ‘Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say’ (Palgrave Macmillan 2013).

Basic income performance

Basic income could virtually eliminate poverty in the United Kingdom at a cost of £67 billion per year

Universal Basic Income (UBI) – a policy that would provide a regular, cash income to every citizen without means test or work requirement – is surprisingly inexpensive.

September 4, 2020

Basic Income’s Third Wave

The drive toward a basic income isn’t new. It’s a 100-year-old movement that has gotten stronger each time inequality has returned to the public discussion. Support for unconditional basic income (UBI) has grown so rapidly over the past few years that some might think the idea appeared out of nowhere. In fact, activists have been floating the plan – and other forms of a basic income guarantee (BIG) – for over a century.

October 19, 2017