Exploring Basic Income in a Changing Economy Teach-Out

Welcome to the Exploring Basic Income in a Changing Economy Teach-Out! In this Teach-Out, we will explore Basic income, the idea of providing people with a minimal level of cash support on a consistent basis, which remains a point of debate in the United States and beyond. The faculty instructor and the "guide" for the Teach-Out is Luke Shaefer, an associate professor at the School of Social Work and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, is the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Shaefer’s research on poverty and social welfare policy in the United States has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals such as Journal of Policy and the American Journal of Public Health, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation, among other sources. Shaefer has presented his research at the White House and before numerous federal agencies, has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and has consulted with a number of the nation’s largest social service providers as well as numerous community-based agencies. His work has been cited in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Review, The Atlantic, Vox, the LA Times and Huffington Post and he has been featured on such programs as Marketplace and CNBC’s Nightly Business Report. His recent book with Kathryn Edin, $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review, and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, among other awards.

Reflection Questions

Before we jump in, feel free to think about the following:

• What does "Universal Basic Income" mean to you?
• Where have you heard the term and how was it used?
• What questions do you have about the idea of basic income?