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State and Future of Guaranteed Basic Income Research

Featuring frontier research to enhance economic opportunity and inclusive growth

November 22, 2024 | 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. CT
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota

State and Future of Guaranteed Basic Income Research
Alternative Text
Jake MacDonald/Cara Ewing/Minneapolis Fed; Getty Images

Basic income programs, if implemented broadly, have the potential to reshape personal finances for many low-income households. However, these programs would be expensive, and economists worry about negative consequences for employment, prices, and human capital accumulation. The chance to learn about these potential effects from a large set of rigorous studies is promising for informing public policy decisions.

Join us on November 22 for a two-part discussion about guaranteed basic income (GBI) research. There are currently more than 100 studies of GBI being conducted in the U.S. today, but relatively few of them have concluded and reported findings. GBI research includes a large new set of studies about a type of safety net policy that has not been seriously considered for about 50 years. The first part of this event will highlight findings from two leading studies (one in Minneapolis conducted by Fed researchers and the other in Illinois and Texas) and discuss how researchers should plan to synthesize the entire set of studies.

The second part of the event will feature researchers who study transfer programs broadly. The discussion will focus on lessons from their research that are relevant to other programs and different interventions or study designs that would enrich our understanding of GBI and related transfer policies.

Event Details

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Event Agenda

Friday, November 22

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Breakfast and Welcome

9:30–10:30 a.m.

OpenResearch Unconditional Cash Study

Presenter: Alex Bartik, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

10:30–11:00 a.m.

Break

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Study

Presenter: Andrew Goodman-Bacon, Senior Institute Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

12:00–1:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:00–2:00 p.m.

Unconditional Cash Transfers in Practice

Presenter: Emilia Simeonova, Professor, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

2:00–2:30 p.m.

Break

2:30–3:15 p.m.

Structure, External Effects, and Financing of Cash Transfers

Presenter: Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, University of California, Berkeley

3:15–4:00 p.m.

Open Discussion

Moderator: Dave Altig, Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Adviser, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

4:00–5:30 p.m.

Reception