The Guardian view on basic income: a worthwhile debate, not yet a policy | Editorial

A regular sum paid to all citizens or residents, whether or not they are in work, will not solve the problems of earnings inequality and stagnant wage growthFor centuries, the idea of a universal basic income – a regular sum paid to all citizens or residents whether or not they are in work – has lit up the eyes of political philosophers. It has long been favoured on the political fringes, appealing to the radical left for its supposed compatibility with a zero-growth world and its re