Whether it’s the FitBit on your arm, a bathroom mirror with a heads-up-display, or the orchestra of smart light bulbs that you have in your home, the Internet of Things, despite its ridiculous name, is feature-creeping on the life of the average consumer. Cheaper than ever before can high-functioning internet connected devices be manufactured, thus offering entrepreneurs the proverbial “Gold Mine” of opportunity for innovation and automation. And, as is often the case with tech, the reception has been cautiously optimistic.

57% of the world's jobs are at risk of being automated. Universal Basic Income may be our only way out. Here's why.

Eight, a charitable organization based in Belgium, is preparing to run a basic income pilot in Uganda (as previously announced in Basic Income News). The two-year pilot is set to launch in January 2017, and will form the basis for a documentary. 27Documentary filmmaker Steven Janssens and sociologist Maarten Goethals founded the charity Eight in 2015, with the vision of reducing global inequality and allowing all people the opportunity to flourish. Eight euros per week is the amount needed to provide a basic income for one adult and two children in impoverished areas, such as parts of Uganda.

Computers, intelligent machines, and robots seem like the workforce of the future. And as more and more jobs are replaced by technology, people will have less work to do and ultimately will be sustained by payments from the government, predicts Elon Musk, the iconic Silicon Valley futurist who is the founder and CEO of SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX. According to Musk, there really won't be any other options.

Supporters of the introduction of a basic income in the Netherlands will today hand over a petition containing 58,000 signatures calling for a debate in parliament. The signatories are calling for a basic income of €1,000 for all adults, plus health insurance and an extra payment for children. A basic income will allow everyone to decide whether to work, study, start a company or, for example, take care of elderly family members, the supporters say. Under the citizens’ initiative scheme, controversial issues have to be placed on the parliamentary agenda if more than 40,000 signatures have been collected in support.

In the startup world the role of an investor is to take “capital off the table”. This means that an entrepreneur can focus on delivering the product, without constantly needing to worry about resources. One of the promises of basic income is to do just that, not only for entrepreneurs but for all of us.

Arvind Subramanian, the chief economic advisor to the Government of India, announced the country will look into the economic policy of giving people free...

A Labour government could introduce a universal basic income as part of a massive overhaul of the benefits system, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. The senior Labour figure confirmed on Monday that the party was looking at the radical move and how it was working in other European countries. A universal basic income would see all citizens, whether they are in or out of work, paid a flat-rate, unconditional income rather than means-tested benefits.

Much of the anger and anxiety in the 2016 election is fueled by the sense that economic opportunity is slipping away for many Americans. This week, as part of NPR's collaborative project with member stations, A Nation Engaged, we're asking the question: What can be done to create economic opportunity for more Americans?

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged the Labour party will investiage the idea of a universal basic income if he wins the leadership election. The policy would lead to a replacement of means-tested benefits with a standard flat-rate payment for all citizens.  Mr Corbyn said Labour would both research and test the policy, which has support from most the party. 

Disposable income is defined as income (from employment, business, property, or social security) minus taxes and social security

It appears some establishment voices have picked up on a way of opposing the idea of the monthly citizen dividend of about $1,000 per month, known as universal basic income (UBI), in a way that successfully leaves some progressively minded people afraid. The fear inspired is that those with the greatest need may be left worse off with UBI compared to the existing status quo of more than 100 government programs that currently comprise the U.S. safety net that UBI has the potential to entirely or mostly replace.

Finland is about to launch an experiment in which a randomly selected group of 2,000–3,000 citizens already on unemployment benefits will begin to receive a monthly basic income of 560 euros (approx. $600). That basic income will replace their existing benefits. The amount is the same as the current guaranteed minimum level of Finnish social security support.

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, known as Kela, will be responsible for carrying out the experiment that would start in 2017.

Americans believe in the importance of a good day’s work. And so it’s understandable that the prospect of a universal basic income (UBI), in which the government would issue checks to cover the basic costs of living, rubs some people the wrong way. Writing in The Week in 2014, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry envisions a UBI dystopia in which “millions of people” are “listing away in socially destructive idleness,” with “the consequences of this lost productivity reverberating throughout the society in lower growth and, probably, lower employment.”

There's been a lot of talk recently about basic income making its way to Finland. These talks are only possible because of a very clear strategy. A number of outlets have covered Finland’s experiment with basic income on a national level. However, few uncover the reason why Finland can pull off such ambitious policies in an age where so many government are left powerless with even the smallest of changes in the way society works. The bigger change is buried under the stream of international news regarding the world’s largest basic income trial. With a closer look, one can see that basic income is only a tip of the iceberg.

“Like any banker, I remember my first bailout fondly. It was January 1995, and like the other bailouts during my twenty-year career it wasn’t called a bailout, but a market-stabilization package…” By Chris Arnade.

In a pilot study influential incubator Y Combinator will hand over cash monthly to 100 families in Oakland, California. What’s UBI’s payoff for tech entrepreneurs?

Driverless vehicles "will make what happened in the steel or auto industries look tiny," says the former chief of one of America's largest unions. It was the free pizza that led Andy Stern to his first union meeting, back when he was working as a welfare caseworker in the 1970’s. He rose fast through the ranks, eventually claiming one of the most powerful positions in the labor movement: President of the 2.2-million member Service Employees International Union.

Projections from a referendum in Switzerland suggest voters have rejected a plan to introduce a guaranteed basic income for all.Some 78% of voters opposed the plan, a GFS projection for Swiss TV suggested. The proposal had called for adults to be paid an unconditional monthly income, whether they worked or not. Supporters said since work was increasingly automated, fewer jobs were available for workers. Switzerland is the first country to hold such a vote. No figure for the basic income had been set, but those behind the proposal suggested a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs...