Books

The Case for Basic Income: Freedom, Security, Justice

Jamie Swift works on social justice issues for the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul and lectures at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.

Elaine Power is a Professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Studies and Head of the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University and is the co-founder of the Kingston Action Group for a Basic Income Guarantee.

In their new book, Jamie Swift and Elaine power forefront personal stories from those involved in the 2017-2019 Ontario Basic Income Pilot and answer basic income’s critics from both the right and left. In their book, they scrutinize the politics and the potential behind a radical proposal in a post-pandemic world: that wealth should be built by a society, not individuals. And that we all have an unconditional right to a fair share.

Published in 2021 by Between the Lines Books.

Book Review in Basic Income Today, by Paloma Pacheco.


Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy

Phillipe Van Parijs is a Professor at the University of Louvain, Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics.

Yannick Vanderborght is a Professor of Political Science at Universite Saint-Louis (Brussels) and at the University of Louvain.

Published in 2017

Book review - Ethics and International Affairs


Bootstraps Need Boots: One Tory's Lonely Fight to End Poverty in Canada

Hugh Segal - a former senator, longtime professor, lifetime politico - was born in Montreal in 1950, an “edge-of-poverty working class kid,” as he refers to his upbringing in the book.

Published in 2019

Book reviews - UBC Press

Book review - Citizens for Public Justice


Basic Income for Canadians: The key to a healthier, happier, more secure life for all 

From the back cover of the book:

Canadian social programs were designed for a world in which most people graduated from high school, then found a permanent job with benefits that, barring unforeseen accidents, they would hold until they retired with a pension - all under the benevolent eye of their workplace union.   read more...

Evelyn L. Forget is an economist in the School of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Several years ago she began researching the data associated with a basic income field experiment conducted in Manitoba in the 1970s. She has been consulted by governments and researchers in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Finland, the Netherlands and Scotland on this topic. Her research has been featured on CBC Ideas, PBS Marketplace, Freakonomics and in the documentary The Free Lunch Society. She lives in Winnipeg.

Published in 2018

Book review - Literary Review of Canada


Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth

Guy Standing is a British professor of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and co-founder of the Basic Income Earth Network.

Published in 2019

Book review - The Guardian


Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health for All Canadians

Dr. Danielle Martin is a family physician and Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive, at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto.

Published in 2017

Book review - Alberta Views