A Basic Income Trilemma: Affordability, Adequacy, and the Advantages of Radically Simplified Welfare

Adequacy, and the Advantages of Radically

Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

As basic income (BI) has ascended the policy agenda, so proposals have come underincreasing scrutiny for their affordability and adequacy for meeting need. One common objec-tion to BI has been that it is impossible to design a scheme that simultaneously conforms tothese two criteria. In this article, I develop a conceptual framework for analysing the trade-offsthat afflict BI policy design. I suggest that while the idea of a policy dilemma between afford-ability and adequacy does indeed afflict ‘full’BI schemes, it is possible to design […]

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