Universal Basic Income - Alaska style!

First broadcast: BBC Radio 4, 8pm, Tuesday 24th March 2020

Suddenly the idea of a 'Universal Basic Income' is being talked about at the highest levels of many countries, as they struggle to deal with the prospect of milliions of citizens thrown out of work by the coronavirus pandemic.  'UBI' is the idea of giving every member of society a ‘basic income’, as a way of tackling extreme poverty and the loss of jobs caused by economic collapse, automation etc. There have been pilot projects across the world, from India to Finland, from Namibia to Canada: and there is talk of a possible one in the city of Hull here in the UK. So much attention is being paid to ‘the Alaska model’, because the Arctic American state has been paying out an annual dividend to every one of its permanent residents, man, woman and child, for almost 40 years. They don’t have to do anything to get the money, and they can do whatever they like with it.

The money comes from the state’s Permanent Fund, which invests a substantial share of the profits of oil production for the benefit of all its citizens. As a result of this ‘dividend’, arguably a form of Basic Income, its supporters say Alaska is the least unequal state in the whole USA. But in the last three years Alaskan politics has been dominated by an unresolved crisis over the Dividend. The State government has been trying to use money earmarked for the Dividend for other purposes, and many claim that this is illegal. Mark Whitaker reports from Alaska on a unique scheme, explaining its history and asking why it has become so controversial.

The BBC programme page is here

First repeat: BBC Radio 4, 5pm, Sunday 29th March 2020
Presenter and producer: Mark Whitaker
Exec producer and engineer: Mike Hally

 Photo via Good Free Photos - aurora borealis over Alaska