The covid19 pandemic has brought back the discussion on Unconditional Basic Income, as a possible solution to tackle some of our current and future challenges. The experiments and initiatives in the US (e.g. Mayors for Guaranteed Income) and the surge in pilots in Europe (e.g. most recently in Berlin) have triggered the debate, and raised new questions about the prospects of implementing such a policy.

The moral objections to UBI and how it could re-shape a society grounded on work are some of the most puzzling but also most important discussions on the topic. However, they are often side-lined with an important instrumental discussion: How much should a UBI be in a given context? How can we fund it? And, most importantly, can we afford it at a National or Supranational level?

These are some of the questions we aim to tackle in the discussion, joining political philosophers and economists.

The event starts with a presentation and discussion of a recent paper by Karl Widerquist and Georg Arndt: “The Cost of Basic Income in the United Kingdom: A Microsimulation Analysis” (2021). It is followed by a brief presentation of how the model of this paper could be adapted to the Portuguese context, by Pedro Teixeira, and by a roundtable discussion joining both Karl Widerquist, Georg Arndt, Filipe Duarte, Pedro Teixeira and Susana Peralta, discussing how much could a UBI cost in Portugal and how could it be financed.

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Jointly organisation by CEPS - University of Minho and Nova SBE Economics for Policy Knowledge Center