The Basic Income Guarantee: Ensuring Progress and Prosperity in the 21st Century

Globalisation and technological change, the key components of what is often called the "New Economy", offer the promise of increased prosperity but have also been accompanied by greater income inequality, increased insecurity and social exclusion. This new economic environment requires changes in how society provides for economic security and equity to go along with the changes in the economy required to promote greater economic efficiency.

The welfare state was designed for a twentieth-century economy and cannot promote equity and efficiency in the New Economy. Currently countries are pursuing either equity at the expense of efficiency (Scandinavia) or efficiency at the expense of equity (US and UK). A Basic Income Guarantee a guaranteed adequate income for every member of society is a social welfare policy that promises to achieve both equity and efficiency. It provides the flexibility needed to promote economic progress while at the same time providing economic security for all citizens ensuring that all benefit from economic progress and that no one is excluded.

This book shows how a Basic Income Guarantee would promote the competitiveness of the Irish economy while at the same time reducing income inequality, eliminating poverty and promoting social inclusion and participation.

About the Author

Charles Michael Andres Clark is Professor of Economics, St Johns University, New York.