The BIG Library — Books About Universal Basic Income (Scott Santens)

Scott Santens’s running bibliography of books about universal basic income, published on Medium and kept up to date (last updated March 9, 2026 when this page was made). Santens wrote it because people kept asking him for book recommendations on UBI. Non-fiction is ordered newest first by release date, and a separate section of novels that feature a basic income follows at the end.

Saved in Kyle’s April 19th, 2020 Roam daily note under #books-to-read. Source: The BIG Library: Books About Universal Basic Income (UBI).

212 entries. Titles already in the wiki are linked; ✓ marks the ones Kyle has read. The list is a bibliography rather than a set of picks, so the rest have not been made into anti-library cards.

Non-fiction (196)

• Determining the Value of Universal Basic Income: Political Feasibility, Ecological Impact, Economic Realities, and Research Methodologies — by Roberto Merrill and Catarina Neves (May 25, 2026)
• Critical theory and the critique of alternative societies: Co-operatives, mutual aid and universal basic income — by Neal Harris (April 14, 2026)
• Limiting Wealth. Why Excess is a Political Problem — by Marcelo Ungarit (January 20, 2026)
• Inequality in the Digital Economy: The Case for a Universal Basic Income — by Andrew White (October 26, 2025)
• Basic Income, Work Incentives and Job Search Behaviour: Bridging Theory and Practice in European Contexts — by Simon Watkins (August 24, 2025)
• Securing Women’s Economic Security, Safety, and Freedom: The Role of Universal Basic Income in Australia — by Zoe Staines (June 25, 2025)
• The Wealth of Freedom: Radical Republican Political Economy — by Stuart White (June 17, 2025)
• Basic Income: The Policy That Changes Everything — by Matthew Johnson, Kate Pickett, Daniel Nettle, Howard Reed (May 27, 2025)
• Rethinking Income and Money: Incorporating Technology into Economic Theory — by Geoff Crocker (May 17, 2025)
• Basic Income for Disasters and Climate Change in Africa (Routledge Studies in African Development) — by Sara Bernardo (November 7, 2024)
• Inequality in the Digital Economy: The Case for a Universal Basic Income — by Andrew White (October 26, 2024)
• Care & Gender - Potentials & Risks of Universal Basic Income (UBI): Proceedings of the FRIBIS Annual Conference 2023 — by LIT Verlag (October 1, 2024)
• A Radical Bargain for Europe: Progressive Visions of a European Basic Income — by multiple authors (June 4, 2024)
• The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy — by Natalie Foster (April 23, 2024)
• Universal Basic Income (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) — by Karl Widerquist (February, 20, 2024)
• Unconditional Freedom: Universal Basic Income and Social Power — by David Casassas and Julie Wark (January 20, 2024)
• The Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income (Second Edition) — by Malcolm Torry (October 21, 2023)
• Technological Unemployment, Basic income, and Well-being (Routledge Advances in Economic Policy) — by Fabio D’Orlando (August 25, 2023)
• Basic Income: A Short Guide — by Annie Miller (August 1, 2023)
• Universal Basic Income: What Everyone Needs to Know — by Matt Zwolinski and Miranda Perry (July 11, 2023)
• A Research Agenda for Basic Income (Elgar Research Agendas) — by Malcolm Torry (June 28, 2023)
• The Popularity of Basic Income: Evidence from the Polls (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Tijs Laenen (May 5, 2023)
• A Tale of Two Economies: A New Financial Operating System For the American Economy — by Scott Smith (February 16, 2023)
• Basic Income in Korea and Beyond: Social, Economic, and Theological Perspectives (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Mee-Hyun-Chung (February 8, 2023)
• The Problem of Property: Taking the Freedom of Nonowners Seriously (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Karl Widerquist (January 1, 2023)
• Basic Income Experiments: Theory, Practice and Politics — by Jurgen De Wispelaere and Evelyn Forget (December 1, 2022)
• Basic Income-What, Why, and How?: Aspects of the Global Basic Income Debate (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Malcolm Torry (October 25, 2022)
• In the Balance: The Case for a Universal Basic Income in South Africa and Beyond — by Hein Marais (July 1, 2022)
• The Economics of Belonging: A Radical Plan to Win Back the Left Behind and Achieve Prosperity for All — by Martin Sandbu (May 17, 2022)
• Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future — by Pope Francis (March 1, 2022)
• Is Basic Income Within Reach?: Building the Case Amidst Progress and Poverty (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Wayne Simpson (February 24, 2022)
• Human Capital versus Basic Income: Ideology and Models for Anti-Poverty Programs in Latin America — by Fabian Borges (February 23, 2022)
• Quest for Dignity : The Right to Basic Income — by Baljinder Sharma (January 12, 2022)
• A Modern Guide to Citizen’s Basic Income: A Multidisciplinary Approach (Elgar Modern Guides) — by Malcolm Torry (December 31, 2021)
• Let There Be Money: Understanding Modern Monetary Theory and Basic Income — by Scott Santens (December 13, 2021)
• Basic Income Experiments: A Critical Examination of Their Goals, Contexts, and Methods (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Merrill et al. (November 30, 2021)
• One Dear Land: A Better World through Information, Universal Basic Income, Community, World Government, and Infinitism — by Ellen Hadley (November 19, 2021)
• Universal Basic Income in Historical Perspective — by Sloman et al. (October 23, 2021)
• Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy — by Andrew Yang (October 5, 2021)
• Basic Income: A History — by Malcolm Torry (September 30, 2021)
• Our Fair Share: How One Small Change Can Create a More Equitable American Economy — by Brian C. Johnson (September 28, 2021)
• Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything
• Radical Trust: Basic Income for Complicated Lives — by Evelyn Forget and Hannah Owczar (August 15, 2021)
• Ours: The Case for Universal Property — by Peter Barnes (August 2021)
• The Case for Basic Income: Freedom, Security, Justice — by Jamie Swift and Elaine Power (May 2021)
• Common Wealth Dividends: History and Theory (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Brent Ranalli (May 2021)
• Is Basic Income Within Reach?: Building the Case Amidst Progress and Poverty (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Wayne Simpson (March 2021)
• Basic Income and Sovereign Money: The Alternative to Economic Crisis and Austerity Policy — by Geoff Crocker (March 2021)
• Tyranny of Kindness: Dismantling the Welfare System to End Poverty in America — by Theresa Funiciello (February 2021)
• Welfare Doesn’t Work: The Promises of Basic Income for a Failed American Safety Net (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Leah Hamilton (February 2021)
• Empirical Research on an Unconditional Basic Income in Europe (Contributions to Economics) — by Lei Delsen (December 2020)
• Basic Income, Disability Pensions and the Australian Political Economy: Envisioning Egalitarian Transformation, Funding, and Sustainability (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Jennifer Mays (December 2020)
• Basic Income for Canadians: From the COVID-19 Emergency to Financial Security for All — by Evelyn Forget (October 2020)
• The Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Malcolm Torry, Malcolm (October 2020)
• Reinventing the Welfare State: Digital Platforms and Public Policies — by Ursula Huws (September 2020)
• Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Elise Klein, Jennifer Mays, Tim Dunlop (August 2020)
• HUMANKIND — by Rutger Bregman (July 2020)
• Pandemic Capitalism: From Broken Systems To Basic Incomes — by Chris Oestereich (July 2020)
• Our Future: The Basic Income Plan for Peace, Justice, Liberty, Democracy, and Personal Dignity — by Steven Shafarman (June 2020)
• The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations — by Jeff Wald (June 2020)
• Political Activism and Basic Income Guarantee: International Experiences and Perspectives Past, Present, and Near Future (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — by Richard Caputo and Larry Liu (May 2020)
• Battling Eight Giants: Basic Income Now — by Guy Standing (March 2020)
• Automation and Human Solidarity (International Political Theory) — by Bill Jordan (January 2020)
• The Coming Age of Imagination: How universal basic income will lead to an explosion of creativity — by Phil Teer (February 2020)
• Basic Income Experiments: Theory, Practice and Politics — by Jurgen De Wispelaere and Evelyn Forget (November 15, 2019)
• Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth — by Guy Standing (August 29, 2019)
• The Future of Work, Technology, and Basic Income (Routledge Research in Applied Ethics) — edited by Michael Cholbi and Michael Weber (July 9, 2019)
• The Case for Universal Basic Income — by Louise Haagh (May 6, 2019)
• The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone’s Wellbeing — by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (January 22, 2019)
• Fully Automated Luxury Communism — by Aaron Bastani (January 22, 2019)
• A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens — by Karl Widerquist (December 30, 2018)
• Universal Basic Income and the Reshaping of Democracy: Towards a Citizens’ Stipend in a New Political Order — by Burkhard Wehner (December 29, 2018)
• Where We Go from Here: Chaos to Community: A Modest Proposal for the Livable Income Security Act of 2019 — by ‘A’ohe Mea (November 10, 2018)
• Basic Income for Canadians: The key to a healthier, happier, more secure life for all — by Evelyn L. Forget (October 2, 2018)
• The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene — by Simon L. Lewis and Mark A. Maslin (August 28, 2018)
• Give People Money — Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World, by Annie Lowrey (July 10, 2018)
• Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America — by Alissa Quart (June 26, 2018)
• Bullshit Jobs (Graeber) — Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, by David Graeber (May 15, 2018)
• It’s Basic Income: The Global Debate — edited by Amy Downes and Stewart Lansley (May 15, 2018)
• Basic Income and the Left: A European Debate — by Philippe Van Parijs (May 2, 2018)
• Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society — by Eric A. Posner and E. Glen Weyl (April 29, 2018)
• The War on Normal People ✓ — The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income is Our Future, by Andrew Yang (April 13, 2018)
• Growing Pains: the future of democracy (and work) — by Gwynne Dyer (March 8, 2018)
• Tomorrow 3.0: Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy — by Michael C. Munger (March 6, 2018)
• Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn — by Chris Hughes (February 20, 2018)
• Against Charity — by Julie Wark and Daniel Raventos (February 6, 2018)
• Basic Income Imperative: For Peace, Justice, Liberty, And Personal Dignity — by Steven Shafarman (September 7, 2017)
• Universal Basic Income: The Irish Context — by Paul O’Brien (September 10, 2017)
• Basic Income: A Guide for the Open-Minded — by Guy Standing (August 29, 2017)
• A Basic Income Handbook — by Annie Miller (August 15, 2017)
• Basic Income Policy and National Debts: The Basic Blueprint for a Global Planned Economy — by Justin R. Smith
• Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen — by Guy Standing (July 25, 2017)
• Financing Basic Income: Addressing the Cost Objection (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — edited by Richard Pereira (May 24, 2017)
• Work Inequality Basic Income — by Brishen Rogers, Philippe van Parijs, Dorian Warren, Tommie Shelby, and Diane Coyle (May 2, 2017)
• Omnia Sunt Communia: On the Commons and the Transformation to Postcapitalism (In Common) — by Massimo de Angelis (April 15, 2017)
• Surviving the Machine Age: Intelligent Technology and the Transformation of Human Work — edited by Kevin LaGrandeur and James J. Hughes (March 29,2017)
• The New Human Rights Movement — The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression, by Peter Joseph (March 21, 2017)
• Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy — by Phillipe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght (March 20, 2017)
• Utopia For Realists ✓ — Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World, by Rutger Bregman (March 14, 2017)
• Why the Future Is Workless — By Tim Dunlop (February 1, 2017)
• Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians — by Dr. Danielle Martin (January 10, 2017)
• Rethink: The Surprising History of New Ideas — by Steven Poole (November 15, 2016)
• System Upgrade v2.016: Solutions for a failing economy, wealth distribution, declining democracy, climate change, and robots that steal jobs — By Gris Anik (November 15, 2016)
• No More Work: Why Full Employment Is a Bad Idea — by James Livingston (October 28, 2016)
• Anthropology and the Economy of Sharing (Critical Topics in Contemporary Anthropology) — by Thomas Widlok (October 14, 2016)
• Basic Income: How a Canadian movement could change the world — by Roderick Benns (October 13, 2016)
• Basic Income in Australia and New Zealand: Perspectives from the Neoliberal Frontier (Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee) — edited by Jennifer Mays, Greg Marston, and John Tomlinson (October 7, 2016)
• Citizen’s Basic Income: A Christian Social Policy — by Malcolm Torry (September 29, 2016)
• The Wealth of Humans: Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century — By Ryan Avent (September 20, 2016)
• What Do We Do About Inequality? — by Wicked Problems Collaborative (September 5, 2016)
• Extinction: A Radical History — by Ashley Dawson (July 22, 2016)
• The Corruption of Capitalism: Why Rentiers Thrive and Work Does Not Pay — by Guy Standing (July 14, 2016)
• The Feasibility of Citizen’s Income — by Malcolm Torry (July 9, 2016)
• Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream
• In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State (Revised and Updated Edition) — by Charles Murray (June 2, 2016)
• Why We Can’t Afford the Rich — by Andrew Sayer (May 15, 2016)
• Saving Capitalism — Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few, by Robert Reich
• Alternatives to Capitalism: Proposals for a Democratic Economy — by Robin Hahnel and Erik Olin Wright
• Can the Welfare State Survive? — by Andrew Gamble
• Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders, and a 15-hour Workweek — by Rutger Bregman
• Voting for Freedom: The 2016 Swiss Referendum on Basic Income: A Milestone in the Advancement of Democracy — by Daniel Hani, Philip Kovce, Joseph F. Bailey (translator)
• A Feasible Basic Income Scheme for Germany: Effects on Labor Supply, Poverty, and Income Inequality — by Maximilian Sommer
• Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future — by Paul Mason
• The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century — by Sarah Leonard and Bhaskar Sunkara
• The Second Machine Age — The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
• The Refusal of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory and Practice — by David Frayne
• Free Money for All: A Basic Income Guarantee Solution for the Twenty-First Century — by Mark Walker
• Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work — by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
• 101 Reasons for a Citizen’s Income: Arguments for Giving Everyone Some Money — by Malcolm Torry
• Change Everything: Creating an Economy for the Common Good — by Christian Felber
• This Changes Everything — This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, by Naomi Klein
• Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution — by James Ferguson
• Inequality (Atkinson) — Inequality: What Can Be Done?, by Anthony B. Atkinson
• Rise of the Robots — Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, by Martin Ford
• The 1% and the Rest of Us: A Political Economy of Dominant Ownership — by Tim Di Muzio
• Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India — by Sarath Davala, Renana Jhabvala, Guy Standing, Soumya Kapoor Mehta
• Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World — by Martin Adams
• Basic Income in Japan: Prospects for a Radical Idea in a Transforming Welfare State — by Y. Vanderborght and T. Yamamori
• Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation — by Tyler Cowen
• With Liberty and Dividends for All: How to Save Our Middle Class When Jobs Don’t Pay Enough — by Peter Barnes
• The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class — by Guy Standing
• A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens — by Guy Standing
• A Convenient Truth: A better society for us and the planet — by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
• Basic Income and the Free Market: Austrian Economics and the Potential for Efficient Redistribution — by Guinevere Liberty Nell
• Money for Everyone: Why We Need a Citizen’s Income — by Malcolm Torry
• Basic Income: An Anthology of Contemporary Research — by Karl Widerquist, Jose Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, Jurgen De Wispelaere
• Our Money: how to shrink government, boost business, eliminate poverty and make the economy work properly for everyone — by Malcolm Henry
• Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income: A Theory of Freedom as the Power to Say No — by Karl Widerquist
• Citizen’s Income and Welfare Regimes in Latin America: From Cash Transfers to Rights — by Ruben Lo Vuolo
• Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK: how to survive the economic collapse and be happy — by Federico Pistono
• Basic Income Worldwide: Horizons of Reform — by Matthew Murray and Carole Pateman
• Exporting the Alaska Model: Adapting the Permanent Fund Dividend for Reform around the World — by Karl Widerquist and Michael Howard
• Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security — by Allan Sheahen
• Basic Income Guarantee and Politics: International Experiences and Perspectives on the Viability of Income Guarantee — by Richard Caputo
• Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend: Examining its Suitability as a Model — by Karl Widerquist and Michael Howard
• Basic Income Reconsidered: Social Justice, Liberalism, and the Demands of Equality — by Simon Birnbaum
• Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy — by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee
• Citizen’s Income and Green Economics — by Clive Lord and Miriam Kennet
• A Better World is Possible — by Bruce Nixon
• Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition — by Charles Eisenstein
• Envisioning Real Utopias — by Erik Olin Wright
• The Lights in the Tunnel — The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future, by Martin Ford
• We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform — by Richard C. Cook
• Ending Poverty: Changing Behavior, Guaranteeing Income, and Transforming Government — by Joseph V. Kennedy
• Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom — by Daniel Raventos
• The Failed Welfare Revolution: America’s Struggle over Guaranteed Income Policy — by Brian Steensland
• Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (Radical Imagination) — by Stanley Aronowitz
• In Our Hands : A Plan To Replace The Welfare State — by Charles Murray
• Redesigning Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder Grants as Cornerstones for an Egalitarian Capitalism — by Bruce Ackerman, Anne Alstott, Philippe Van Parijs
• The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee — by Karl Widerquist, Michael Anthony Lewis, Steven Pressman
• The Origins of Universal Grants: An Anthology of Historical Writings on Basic Capital and Basic Income — by John Cunliffe and Guido Erreygers
• The End of Work — by Jeremy Rifkin
• The Ethics of Stakeholding — by Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Stuart White
• The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship — by Stuart White
• Basic Income on the Agenda: Policy Objectives and Political Chances — by Loek Groot and Robert-Jan van der Veen
• What’s Wrong With a Free Lunch? — by Philippe Van Parijs
• The Stakeholder Society — by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott (2000)
• Freedom and Security: An Introduction to the Basic Income Debate — by Tony Fitzpatrick (1999)
• The National Tax Rebate: A New America With Less Government — by Leonard M. Greene (1998)
• Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? — by Philippe Van Parijs (1998)
• Building a Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global Economic Warfare — by Hazel Henderson (1997)
• The $30,000 Solution: A Guarantee Annual Income for Every American — by Robert R. Schutz (1997)
• … and Economic Justice for All: Welfare Reform for the 21st Century — by Michael L. Murray (1997)
• Tyranny of Kindness: Dismantling the Welfare System to End Poverty in America — by Theresa Funiciello (1994)
• Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform — by Philippe Van Parijs (1985)
• Liberating the Early American Dream: A Way to Transcend the Capitalist/Communist Dilemma Nonviolently — by Alfred F. Andersen (1982)
• Work Incentives and Income Guarantees: The New Jersey Negative Income Tax Experiment — by Joseph A. Pechman and P. Michael Timpane (1975)
• The Politics of a Guaranteed Income: The Nixon Administration and the Family Assistance Plan — by Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1973)
• Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? — by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1967)
• The Guaranteed Income: Next Step in Economic Evolution? — by Robert Theobald (1966)
• Two-Factor Theory: The Economics Of Reality — by Louis O. Kelso and Patricia Hetter
• The Guaranteed Income: Next Step in Economic Evolution? — by Robert Theobald
• Economic Democracy — by C. H. Douglas
• A reasonable revolution: being a discussion of the state bonus scheme, a proposal for a national minimum income — by Bertram Pickard
• Higher production by a bonus on national output: A proposal for a minimum income for all varying with national productivity — by Dennis Milner
• Roads to Freedom — by Bertrand Russell

Fiction (16)

• The Hands of the Emperor — by Victoria Goddard (August 23, 2022)
• The Ministry for the Future — The Ministry for the Future: A Novel, by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Everyone Should Get It First — by Craig Bowles and Rusty Burridge (August 12, 2020)
• Crisis: 2038: A Novel — by Gerald Huff (November 16, 2018)
• The Expanse Book Series — by James S. A. Corey
• January Fifteenth — by Rachel Swirsky
• Perfect Timing — by Jeffery J. Smith
• Manna: Two Visions of Humanity’s Future — by Marshall Brain
• Operation Toga: Type One Go Ahead — by John Griffin
• Wish — by Leon H. Eden
• Schrodinger’s Cat II: The Trick Top Hat — by Robert Anton Wilson
• For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs — by Robert A. Heinlein
• Beyond This Horizon — by Robert A. Heinlein
• Maya Greenwood Book Series — by Starhawk
• The Midas Plague — by Frederik Pohl
• Honor Harrington (13 Book Series) — by David Weber

Connections

• Universal Basic Income
• Book Lists — Master