Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream

by Andy Stern, Andy Stern

Advances in technology are creating the next economy and enabling us to make things/do things/connect with others in smarter, cheaper, faster, more effective ways. But the price of this progress has been a decoupling of the engine of prosperity from jobs that have been the means by which people have ascended to (and stayed in) the middle class.

Andy Stern, the former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spent four years traveling the country and asking economists, futurists, labor leaders, CEOs, investment bankers, entrepreneurs, and political leaders to help picture the U.S. economy 25 to 30 years from now. He vividly reports on people who are analyzing and creating this new economy—such as investment banker Steve Berkenfeld; David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell International; Andy Grove of Intel; Carl Camden, the CEO of Kelly Services; and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Through these stories, we come to a stark and deeper understanding of the toll technological progress will continue to take on jobs and income and its inevitable effect on tens of millions of people.

But there is hope for our economy and future. The foundation of economic prosperity for all Americans, Stern believes, is a universal basic income. The idea of a universal basic income for all Americans is controversial but American attitudes are shifting. Stern has been a game changer throughout his career, and his next goal is to create a movement that will force the political establishment to take action against something that many on both the right and the left believe is inevitable. Stern’s plan is bold, idealistic, and challenging—and its time has come.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, Social Justice, Business, Technology, Money

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Andy Stern former president, Service Employees International Union (SEIU); senior fellow, Columbia University's Center for Business, Law and Public Policy.

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, Andy Stern, is the rare person of a labor organizing background who agrees with the business types who proclaim unions will be a dead concept in the future. After losing faith in the ability of unions, which represent only 11% of American workers today, to effect economic change, Stern set out to study the impact of globalization and technology. His conclusion: we can't fight the machines.

In this book Stern articulates a persuasive story about a rapidly emerging economic order in which automation and ever smarter artificial intelligence will make even cheap foreign labor obsolete and give rise to a society that will be highly productive—except at creating new jobs. Today's persistently stagnant wages and rageful political populism are early signs of the trouble this could generate.

... technology could exert a slow but continual downward pressure on the value and availability of work—that is, on wages and on the share of prime-age workers with full-time jobs. Eventually, by degrees, that could create a new normal, where the expectation that work will be a central feature of adult life dissipates for a significant portion of society.

Stern's solution is to give Americans a universal basic income (UBI), a form of social security in which all citizens regularly receive an unconditional sum of money from the government. He says it is the only way to provide "a dignified way to transition people" to the future economy, and that it could help jobless millennials cope with lackluster prospect and spend more time on creative leisure activities. The idea of UBI stretches back to the 18th century, and the idea is gaining traction in U.S. policy circles.

(See Comments 3 and 4 below for additional details and excerpts from the book.)

Here's A LINK to an article with an interesting suggestion on how to fund a basic income.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most frustrating books I've read. Spends 80+% of the book diagnosing the problem (or name-dropping the individuals he's met, worked with, or interviewed) and very little on the actual implementation of the basic income. There is perhaps a chapter and a half of this book that actually gets into the nitty gritty of basic income and even then doesn't really take arguments against the basic income very seriously. Questions like incentives, inflation, funding, political obstacles are largely glossed over quickly which is a real shame.

And despite only being published in June of last year, it's hilariously out of date with regards to current trends in direct action or political headwinds. In one section he states he hopes to run a third party "Basic Income Party" presidential candidate in 2020/24. Donald Trump is mentioned once in a sentence about inherited wealth and far-right ethno-nationalism is a "European problem." The ACA/Obamacare is treated like a fait accompli when its survival under the current Congress and President is doubtful (though recent reports suggest that the GOP congress is having a lot more trouble in this regard than they assumed coming in).

Stern's resume as a labor leader in the SEIU makes him worth listening to. I just think that he flubbed this one.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I am already a believer in the idea of universal basic income and was hoping this book would answer critical questions I still have about how we as a society will survive and thrive in a work-scarce or even work-free world. I'm also curious to know how we can possibly pay for a meaningful UBI (the author's suggestion of $12k/year is not realistic in many states). And how do we avoid disincentivizing work? But this book is really short on content and very long on the author's personal discovery process.

I think you can discover the concept of universal basic income by traveling down several different roads. I came across it while reading about advancements in artificial intelligence. The author came across UBI while looking for ways to protect workers from the impacts of globalization and automation.

If you are looking for the history of UBI in the context of the US labor movement, then by all means start here. But honestly, if you just want to know "what is UBI", go to the Wikipedia page.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff, but almost unbelievably naive considering the political realities laid bare by the 2016 election. Written about 6 months too early, I think.

[Travis Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book hoping to get some good insights on Universal Basic Income -- including some of the more nuanced aspects, including proper sizing, optimum timing and funding as well as the effect it will have. This book did a poor job of addressing these issues.

The bulk of the book (first 150+ pages of a 220 page book) are devoted to the author talking about his background, the current of jobs and the potential for robots to take jobs in the future. I'd recommend that a reader skip these pages and jump straight into the UBI discussion. He does give a basic foundation of UBI, as well as a proposed amount and potential options to fund it; however the bare analysis was lacking. I find odd that his $1k/ month UBI should be enough to sustain one adults basic needs, but a $8/hr minimum wage (@ 160 hrs/month = $1,280) job doesn't provide enough to cover people's basic needs according to many minimum wage supporters. There are many other gaps in logic and his arguments (at one point he seems to imply that the decrease in wrecks that autonomous cars will have is bad because it puts people in the insurance industry out of jobs) that make it hard to take much away from this book. Needless to say, I'm still on the lookout for a book that takes a deeper dive on UBI.

[Otto Lehto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andy Stern's book, Raising the Floor, joins the chorus of progressive voices in favour of Universal Basic Income. What sets this book apart is the personal story of its author, which is prominent on its pages and which gives me hope. The author's point of view feels very refreshing, since it's so rare to find a union guy - let alone a big league ex union boss! - who understands how obsolete the old labour markets are in responding to rapid structural changes.

Stern isn't afraid to challenge many taboos of the American left while retaining the spirit of solidarity that animates the labour movement. He sees how New Deal social democracy needs to change as a result.

I don't think he goes far enough in abandoning the piecemeal legislation, pro regulation, pro big government mentality, since he advocates for raising the minimum wage and mandating a shorter work week, but at least he acknowledges that these are, at best, short term policy solutions, while a UBI ought to be the long term solution.

Even if, as a libertarian, I disagree with him on many details, I admire his commitment to bipartisan dialogue and open-minded attitude into assessing the risks and rewards of the future. This should be mandatory reading for all social democrats across Europe and the United States.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, overall. Most of the book is really devoted to explaining various problems with the contemporary American economy, especially the looming threat of technological unemployment. I think Stern paints a gloomier picture than is actually justified here, but the difference is probably best thought of as one of degree. I think the rise of artificial intelligence is going to be good for most people, and that a UBI can help smooth the transition for the minority of people whose boats aren't lifted by the rising tide. Stern thinks things are getting worse for most people, and that the UBI is necessary to ensure that the tide lifts anybody but a relatively narrow elite of capital owners and super high-performers.
In the end, though, I think Stern sets out a compelling vision of a UBI. Although he's firmly on the political left, he realizes the necessity of crafting a policy that can attract support from across the political spectrum. And so he's mindful of ensuring that a UBI wouldn't cost too much, wouldn't discourage work too much, and would be funded partially by replacing existing welfare programs rather than piling on top of them. In the end, there actually isn't a whole lot of difference between Stern's proposal and the proposal set out by the conservative Charles Murray in *In Our Hands*.
If you're looking for an introduction to the UBI, there are other books out there that provide a more comprehensive overview of the topic. But Stern's book is definitely worth reading for anyone seriously interested in the topic, or looking for a well-articulated expression of concern about the future of work.

[Rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly recommend Raising the Floor to anyone interested in learning more about the idea of a Universal Basic Income and its place in today's political conversation. In it, Andy Stern, former president of the Service Employees International Union, one of America's largest and most influential unions, describes his journey from championing more traditional labor politics and policies to believing that a UBI is an urgent and necessary solution to the continued success of American workers. This book was the impetus for much of the thinking behind Andrew Yang's entire presidential campaign and especially his $1,000/month Freedom Dividend, and even as someone who's been reading a lot about technological unemployment and UBI for almost a decade, I found it presented the case for and alternatives to UBI in a refreshingly clear and compelling manner.

[Nigel Linton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stern builds an excellent case for the introduction of a Univsersal Basic Income (UBI).

The main focus of the argument is based around fighting the eventual jobloss which next wave of automation and technology will bring. Stern manages to discuss how this will impact a broad range of job types whilst keeping the examples relevant and understandable.

This is well worth a read for anyone interested in reading more about how create environment that will improve all our lives, not just the super rich.

[Lowell Paige Bander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labor unions used to be the most effective means with which to ensure the livelihood of the working class. However, in the face of forces such as globalization, automation, and the gig economy, which undermine the collective bargaining power of unions by centralizing power in the hands of the ultra-rich, this is no longer true. In an eminently readable and succinct text, Stern thoroughly examines the pros and cons of the available solutions and makes the case for a Universal Basic Income (UBI).

[Aj Greenman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Automation is about to displace millions of American workers. The only 2020 candidate taking this issue seriously has been Andrew Yang. We can either brace ourselves against the rise of AI or learn to reorient ourselves around it. This book makes a lot of great points, and I'm glad we have Yang really bringing these ideas out into reality and letting them breathe.

[Tony Canas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at an interesting topic, but left me unconvinced. I'm a big fan of UBI, and this book gave me a lot of tools, but it didn't quite give me a killer argument.

[Jesse Richards · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think UBI is one of the strongest contenders as the most efficient solution to address our nation's core critical problem: economic inequality. It's urgent that everyone gets to know the concept. But this is a terribly-written book. Only the last chapter is about UBI. The rest of it namedrops every person on earth as the author meets with them to confirm the obvious over and over.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall good and glad I read it.

Initially (and I know Stern is a big deal but) I felt that the author came off a little too arrogant in the opening chapters. I understand the need to establish your credentials in a space and on a topic, but this was kind of off-putting as it was a brag fest that didn't always seem relevant to the point of the book. But it leveled off as you got in and I don't know the man, so perhaps I'm being too harsh.

The data and information on automatization and how our jobs are disappearing was fascinating and frightening. Most of the book is making that case and does so successfully.

The actual discussion of the UBI is for - at most - the last third. Overall I think it's an innovative solution that I'd like to learn more about. But my critique of THIS book in it's discussion of the UBI - it doesn't take into consideration that wealth is relative. So giving a Universal Basic Income of the same amount to everyone, regardless of economic status, still leaves income/wealth inequality intact. Some of the proposals from the right about UBI involve replacing the currently welfare system/social safety net with UBI. Again, I think that will harm more than help. A UBI for the 99%, i.e. some wealth distribution to meet basic standard of living needs (that would have to be tied to inflation and/or connected to resources in some way, otherwise prices will just go up I fear) is good. But those in the top 1% don't need a UBI. And I would only be comfortable with it if it was funded through increased taxes on the rich, not destroying social safety net programs.

Overall though an interesting read and Stern does a great job of being balanced and getting the opinions of Republicans, Libertarians, and Fiscal Conservatives in general.

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't understand how many jobs will be lost by Artificial Intelligence, robots, technology, the gig revolution, or software - you need to read this book! If you are not aware of the ways that Business replaces full time workers using software - you need to read this book. If you haven't thought about how many jobs will be lost by driverless technology (answer: all cab drivers, delivery personnel, truck drivers, etc) - you need to read this book. Inside you will find one answer to the growing problem that by 2030 might eliminate 47% of current full time jobs! A basic income for every person between 18 - 65. At first I didn't think this was a viable solution but after reading the book I understand that with this approach all people would be able to live the American Dream. How would you live your life if given a fixed income that could support the basics? Would you continue to work and add your income to the basic income? Would you go to college? Would you play music? Would you start a small business to supplement your basic income? Would you become an inventor? Interesting questions on the Constitutional Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you don't agree with the idea of Universal Basic Income, this book is worth a read. If nothing else, it provides some great insight into where the economy is heading and why we should all be worried. He doesn't use this example, but when I was in charge of translations at UnitedHealth Group, I saw first-hand how software is transforming how we think about work. It used to be you hired an actual foreign speaker to sit down and translate, no more. Now a computer does the heavy lifting and a human checks the product, refines it as needed, and the software gets smarter each time. A friend who used to be a professional photographer is out of work because editing software and cheap digital photography have devalued his work to the point he can't make a living. This book laid bare many stories like these that should give us pause. We are moving forward without a plan and it will be chaotic and brutal and the perpetrators will be very, very rich when its over.

[Karel Baloun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Stern has been America's most successful and important labor leader, and he is moving beyond just Unions. He advocates for Universal Basic Income in a way that even conservatives and libertarians should applaud.

Stern is a gifted story teller, and he calls for UBI through the lives and heartfelt human experience of dozens of people.

He shows a clear and pretty deep understanding of technical trends, and of course labor markets and labor policy.

I really hope this starts a very important conversation in American policy circles, and brings both the under employed and the relatively successful workers who have benefited from unions, together.

The last 10 pages outline a roadmap, and just this part felt a little weak, especially fears of aggressively progressive tax policy.

[Javier HG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es un libro muy, muy recomendable (y nada caro) porque hace pensar sobre lo que viene. Lo sorprendente es que el autor, a pesar de su background, no nos vende "mulas viejas" ni nos habla de tesoros al final de un arcoiris. Andy Stern fue uno de los sindicalistas más poderosos de EE.UU, en la década pasada: máximo representante del sindicato de trabajadores de servicios (gente que trabajaba en mantenimiento de edificios, en geriátricos o en empresas de seguridad por ejemplo), ayudó a que un desconocido senador de Illinois fuera elegido candidato a la presidencia de la República, y luego le apoyó para que se aprobase el ahora tan atacado "Obamacare". Andy Stern saáe unas cuantas cosas sobre cómo funciona Washington, la economía, y las relaciones laborales.

Pero en 2010 decidió dimitir, para sorpresa de tod@s. En el libro reconoce que lo hizo por dos motivos: cansancio después de tres décadas en el movimiento sindical, y encontrarse "perdido" respecto hacia dónde se dirigía la economía y el mundo del trabajo. Así que decidió volver a estudiar, y "Raising the floor" es el fruto de esa retirada.

El libro deja claro que va a haber menos trabajos. Así de claro y así de simple. No es tanto por la tan cacareada globalización como por la propia tecnología ("aunque vuelvan las fábricas a EE.UU, no lo harán los trabajos"). ¿Y qué va a ocurrir entonces? (El fundador de Alibaba, Jack Ma, ha avisado también de esta tendencia) Pues que tendremos que replantearnos MUCHAS cosas: desde qué significa trabajo, a cómo vamos a recaudar impuestos en un sistema tributario que se "alimenta" de nóminas. La primera parte del libro "acojona" bastante: solo una minoría (no confundir con élite) cuyo trabajo realmente suponga valor añadido seguirá teniendo un empleo (lo tendrá una enfermera pero no un médico, por ejemplo), y NADIE tiene muy claro qué va a pasar, pero sí está claro que los antiguos esquemas no están funcionando (el altísimo coste de las universidades en los EE.UU está haciendo que muchos se replanteen si hay que ir a ellas).

En la segunda parte del libro Stern plantea una solución: la renta básica universal (RBU). Si no hay tantos trabajos pero la producción se mantiene o aumenta (una condición sine qua non), ¿no debería darse una renta de subsistencia? La idea es bastante chocante, y muchos la tildarán de "paga para vagos" (en España se hacen comparaciones con las peonadas del PER), pero si en el futuro no hay trabajo para una parte de la sociedad, ¿qué vamos hacer? ¿que ahí se pudran? Es algo que nos vamos a tener que plantear en un futuro más cercano del que pensamos. Evidentemente implantar la RBU no es fácil, y el propio Stern lo reconoce. Admite que para lograrlo en los EE.UU habría que eliminar el estado del bienestar en su mayor parte (la RBU SERÍA el estado del bienestar), y que habría que aumentar los impuestos de patrimonio e indirectos.

He escrito en más de una ocasión que me gustan los libros que me hacen pensar y este lo ha hecho, y mucho. 100% recomendable.

[Joel Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading Raising the Floor, by Andy Stern, former head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), I had little reason to support the idea of a Universal Basic Income. It seemed a politically impossible idea fraught with the same risks of abuse that plague our current welfare system. But by the end of the book, I came away with a much more positive view towards an idea that not only seems possible but, in a lot of ways, inevitable in our job-scarce future.

For those new to the concept of UBI, it would provide a small stipend to each citizen, regardless of income. This year, Switzerland offered a referendum on a national UBI, which was narrowly defeated. A UBI would serve as a safety net so that citizens can seek meaningful work without having to take a paycheck at a soul-crushing job just to pay the bills. At first, it basically just sounds like an expanded version of our current welfare system without preconditions. But as Stern explains it, the UBI serves more as an impetus and mechanism for average Americans to become more responsible and entrepreneurial with their lives.

A fair warning: The book is slow-going at first. Stern takes a while (3/4 of the book to be more accurate) to actually get to the subject of the UBI. I spent pages wondering when he was going to get to it and why a book that’s supposed to be about UBI only contains about 50 pages delving into the topic. But just as a good thriller spends an hour setting up the plot, only to destroy you with the climax, Stern uses the first three-quarters of the book to set up a terrifying vision of our future world.

In short: The robots are coming!

That’s right. It’s not too surprising to find out that automation will make most jobs scarce in the future since it’s already happening. Just as the computer destroyed the typewriter industry and the internet is killing print journalism, the same will happen to industries such as transportation (self-driving cars), retail and manufacturing (consumer 3-D printing), and even healthcare (direct-care robots-yes, really). But the shocking part might be how soon this will happen. We’ve read about Tesla and Google’s attempts at perfecting the self-driving car and the spread of 3D printing. While these technologies aren’t fine-tuned enough to truly disrupt our economy, they’ll get there within five years. Once self-driving vehicles are a reality, you can say goodbye to the truck drivers, who makes up a sizable portion of our nation’s economy. UPS and FedEx will either adapt or be obsolete.

Scary stuff, but Stern uses this information to propel his argument for a universal basic income to offset these economic changes. We’ve seen how unemployment ravages our communities with the terrible drug problem inflicting small towns in Indiana, West Virginia, and others after the downturn in the manufacturing and coal industries. Contrary to what some people say, these industries aren’t dying because of China, but largely because of automation. And this is just the start.

The most intriguing part of the UBI debate is how it relates to our current welfare system. I previously envisioned UBI being a supplement to our welfare system, which includes food stamps and TANF (cash payments-what most of us think of as “welfare”), among a myriad of other programs. But in Stern’s view, UBI would replace these programs. We would start by scratching all public assistance programs, besides Medicaid (too politically risky with the elderly) and social security (paid from a payroll tax). With this fact in mind, one could see how the UBI could actually be politically palatable from a Republican or Libertarian point of view. The UBI would shrink government rather than increase it because the system would be simplified. No more having to qualify for public assistance. Rather, everyone gets a check. What you do with that check is your choice, but there will be no more after the money is gone, so you better have a plan.

Stern argues that the fixed amount will create more economically responsible citizens. We will no longer see people manipulate paperwork to receive benefits or make lifestyle choices (such as holding off on marriage) in order to get that check.

UBI would certainly be expensive. Stern consults various economists, who offer an amount ranging from $1.5-$2 trillion, an astounding amount to be sure. Yet by eliminating public assistance, we’re already almost at the trillion mark. Add in some budget cutting in farming and oil subsidies, along with a cut in the military (the only questionable aspect) and we’re just about at the amount we need. So it wouldn’t be adding expenditures, but rather transferring funding from one place to another.

Stern also discusses the social benefits of a UBI. claiming that a nondiscriminatory payment clarifies how our tax dollars support our citizens, rather than picking and choosing citizens in which to fund. He offers convincing evidence that Americans will have more ability to live purposely because we’re not so bogged down with figuring out how to pay the bills.

My skepticism had me asking about the inflationary effects of such a program. If everyone is receiving the same amount, won’t prices simply rise to meet demand? After all, wouldn’t the division of wealth stay the same because the rich will still have just as much more relative to everyone else? But Stern rightly claims that we’ve been living through deflationary times for 2 decades now due to automation. Just think about that $200 computer in your pocket and how much that would have cost in 1970. This will only continue as technology improves at an even faster pace as more people work towards solving technological and infrastructure issues rather than taking that job at Starbucks. Speaking of which…

My 2nd concern was that of low-paying jobs. Who would work them? Wouldn’t places like McDonalds and Starbucks go out of business with the UBI-enabled economy? But the more I thought about this problem, the more I kept thinking, “Who cares?” I hardly see saving McDonalds as a good reason to ignore the UBI. These companies can always adjust to the new economic conditions by paying their workers more or getting into a different economic sector. It is the free market after all, with all it’s sink or swim goodness. Sure, if McDonalds paid its workers more, their prices would probably rise (although this hasn’t been completely proven), but keep in mind that we now have more purchasing power due to the UBI, so it balances out.

But certainly, the most surprising aspect of the book were the quotes from prominent right-wing thinkers like Charles Murray, who wrote Coming Apart, which studied the dwindling conditions of middle-class America. Murray fully supports the UBI as a way to shrink government and get out of the poverty trap that he claims our welfare system creates. And Murray isn’t the only right-wing thinker to support the idea. In fact, the idea of UBI has been thrown around for centuries, ranging from Thomas Paine, of Common Sense fame, to Martin Luther King. Richard Nixon even came close to initiating an early version of the UBI (then called the much more Republican-friendly “negative income tax”) before being defeated by Congress.

Stocked with this information and a more fully developed view of what a UBI would look like, the idea doesn’t seem so crazy. When you look at the head-dizzying complexity of our modern government, with multiple agencies doing redundant work and unlimited opportunities for corruption, it actually makes sense. Think about the bureaucratic simplicity in such a system where everyone receives the same amount.

It makes you wonder who will be the first politician to summon enough bravery to take a stand. Until then, I guess we’ll argue about building walls and emails.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5? The title of this book feels a tiny bit click bait-y in that a universal basic income (UBI) isn't discussed in detail until the last of eight chapters, though to be fair, it is the largest chapter in the book. The majority of the book is about the changing face of work in our economy and builds the case for why we need a UBI. To some this may feel misleading, but I find the ever-changing and growing use of automation to be absolutely fascinating and is the greatest case for a UBI. How does your economy work when there aren't enough jobs left for those that want them? How does capitalism keep spinning if your population doesn't have any money to buy goods and services. A fair warning that you will have to deal with the author using these chapters to toot his own horn quite a bit, but it's still fantastic information.

Once you get to the UBI chapter, I actually think this is one of the best pieces I've read in support of it. There is discussion about "mitigation" strategies that help in the interim, a lot of which you are seeing through the Build Back Better legislation out now, but then the author details many social benefits of UBI, some of which I hadn't thought about before, such as having enough money to move to a new place which could be great for our electoral map or the ability to leave abusive relationships, because an individual doesn't have to be reliant on a partner for income. He also details why a UBI can appeal to a spectrum of political leanings as it aims to eliminate poverty and give dignity to all while also eliminates social programs and the big government needed to support it. A range of ways to fund a UBI is also discussed which I really appreciate as other books haven't dipped into this with as much detail and I think this helps show that a path exists.

I don't agree with everything the author recommends like trying to keep Social Security at the same time. That's a real pickle that would need to be solved. How do you pay out those who have paid in more than the UBI could fulfill, but how do you support a program that already has less and less people paying into the pyramid? But at least the book has you thinking in this kind of detail and I certainly appreciate that rumination generation. He also recommends putting a new, UBI party candidate on every state's presidential ballot which I'm sure sounded like a great idea when this book came out in June 2016, but probably not after November. Though he did predict there being a strong UBI candidate running by 2020 (Andrew Yang). Overall, I thought this was really a really thorough and thought-provoking take.

[William Nist · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the advent of robotic workers and artificial intelligence, the time for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) has arrived. Fewer and fewer jobs with less satisfaction and meaning will be available to people of every advanced country as this era fully develops. UBI is the best way to distribute the fruits of human effort in a time when human effort is not needed to produce the fruit! This is the thesis of this book and it is compellingly argued.

UBI would allow for the elimination of 126 welfare programs, thereby simplifying and reducing government while solving the problem of poverty. It gives each person directly cash to buy goods and services thus increasing the Aggregate Demand; if offers security and independence for every adult; and everyone is eligible!

The authors specific plan is to give every person over 17 but under 65, a stipend of $1000/month--no strings attached.

The program would be paid for by the savings harvested from the 126 existing programs and selected taxes (like a VAT, a wealth tax or a stock transaction tax). He goes into depth on the possibilities for funding.

Sounds smart to me as we face more income inequality, and robots are being manufactured to replace humans in both blue and white collar jobs. We have to do something before 5% of the population is all that is needed to create all the goods and services that we want.

[Rosa Gudny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not marketed right, there isn't anything about Universal basic income until the last 15%. The book is in fact about the nature of work, the work environment and the changes that have happened in the last few decades and what is going to happen with automation, the gig-economy and the future of work, which is not looking good, as the system stands. Which then leads into UBI, the two are very interlinked.
This book was written in 2016, Obama was still the president and there was way more optimism in the US. Now, 8 years later, it is interesting to read it with hindsight.
I agree with a lot of the arguments: unions are not strong enough anymore, the gig-economy is precarious and takes advantage of people, work as we know it as a steady 40h workweek and livable wages are a thing of the past, automation is coming and is going to change a LOT, we need solutions to that and UBI is the best one we have, lowest salaries vs highest salaries have gone from 1:20 to 1:300 in the last 50 years which is outrageous, the rich are the ones that are the real welfare-queens misusing the system.
However, Stern's writing is sometimes pretentious, with name dropping and bragging of how important he is with all these cool people he knows.

[Alexis Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I'm researching a debate about whether or not the United States should implement a universal basic income, I was enticed to read this book and learn more about the benefits of a UBI (universal basic income). I was disappointed to find that he didn't discuss more than the mere argument that a UBI would reboot the economy. I expected this book would cover other arguments about implementing a UBI and I even had the expectation that Andy Stern would mention some of the cons to implementing such a program, then refute those cons.

The book wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't address all that I'd hope it to. Since there isn't as much literature on a universal basic income, I predict a lot of people will read this book to get their information about a UBI. I wish the book would inform them of other aspects of a UBI before these people read the book. It seems like it only mentions one, singular perspective about it renews the economy. I wish it would have given more information about that a UBI won't create a disincentive to work, and it'll cause more jobs to be created or fulfilled.

[Tiffanellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Compelling - “Why a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?” Author Andy Stern’s supporting arguments span from a solid macroeconomic logic and his thorough understanding of the “Future of Work” that involve ‘replacement of workers’ and an increase in inequality due to what is the natural trajectory in technology, globalization, power of the elite, and etc in the 21st century.

This book is a leading 21st century bipartisan thought-leadership piece on how we can solve poverty in the United States. As a political science/economics graduate who has read a lot of development literature, it is rare to find a book that not only states the issues at hand, but a solution, and a set of potential policies to follow. In the end, he lays out where the funding would come from, what other factors would have to be present, and what it’d take in politics to implement a UBI.

From start to finish, this book was a page-turner and is very compelling. I would recommend this book to anyone at any stage of the UBI spectrum.

[Tyler Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Give Andy Stern credit. He wrote the book that seems to have motivated Andrew Yang to (1) write a better one and (2) launch a presidential run that brought the idea into the mainstream. But now that this has happened, save yourself the time and skip this one. Almost the entirety of this book reads like a transcript of conversations Andy had with various thinkers on the future of labor. It feels like I read an author's notes instead of the book he meant to produce from them. If you're interested in UBI, read Andrew Yang's The War on Normal People first, then Charles Murray's In Our Hands. If you decide to pick up this book, do yourself a favor and skip to the last chapter where the author finally makes his UBI proposal 200 pages into a 222-page book.

Maybe that's overly harsh. The point is well made in this book—if you can sift through all the lead up—that UBI is one of the most important topics we should be talking about today. I don't disagree at all with Stern's conclusions, just didn't find this compelling reading when the topic deserves such.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very interested in learning about the ideas about Universal Basic Income.

The author spends a significant part of the book, setting up the need for the UBI. The idea that AI (largely in the form of machine learning), robotics and even the culture behind Uber/Ebay/Air BnB breaks down the idea of a 'job' that people do on a daily basis - and breaks it up into a series of 'tasks' which can be competed for by freelancers around the world working for less and less money. He writes about the gradual erosion of unions and provisions of stable work (health care/holidays).

These are well argued and the final chapters make the argument for the UBI. I would have liked to have seen a bit more discussion about this, the various models and countries that are already starting to test this 'of the moment' idea. A nice introduction to the topic, but I would have liked more about the UBI itself.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars for the idea of universal basic income, but only two stars for Stern's handling of it. He spent waaaay too much time describing the problem (to the point that I felt he was beating a dead horse), and not nearly enough time describing how we would implement UBI. I also felt like he didn't know who his audience was - some issues he spent too long explaining to the layman, and other topics (like post-scarcity, etc.) he glossed over as if you were expected to already know what that was. I had questions about how UBI would work (like, how would a flat-rate disbursement work in areas where cost of living greatly differ, e.g. California compared to Arkansas?) that he said he would answer later, and then he did not address them. Overall, it was a frustrating read, but I'd still like to know more about UBI.

[Eileen Breseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book on the argument that we need a Universal Basic Income in the U.S. to meet the evolving world of industry, workers, and the societal basics for the American people in the 21st century. Andy Stern builds a case for his own changing perspective over the years with numerous interviews, experience in the labor unions and in the political realm of the Obama Administration. His last chapters outline how that would work, and from where he sees funding such an endeavor. I highly recommend everyone read this and gain perspective. I highly recommend everyone read this and gain perspective.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A convincing but shallow look at a intriguing idea that is just starting to emerge as a topic of serious political discussion. Stern makes a good case for the whys of universal basic income but doesn't delve too deeply into the hows, which is where the heart of the discussion about this potentially paradigm-shifting idea and is at time dismissive of some of the key points against the necessity and utility of a guaranteed-payment system. Still, the diversity of voices brought into the narrative through Stern's wide-ranging interviews about the future of work and wages made the book informative enough to be a worthwhile read.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former SEIU labor boss Andy Stern explores the current and future state of work and employment, looking at technology, innovation, automation, AI, globalization, and the shortcomings of organized labor. By the numbers, the future looks bleak. As a solution, Stern argues convincingly in favor of a universal basic income (UBI), and lays out a thoughtful model of his own, deftly addressing many of the common objections. In fact, Stern's version of UBI was used as the initial template of 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang's "Freedom Dividend." The book took a little while to get to the point, but it's a very useful introduction to basic income.