Cash in Hand

Poor places pose one of the great policy problems of our time. Termedleft-behind places by geographers, regions such as the North of England, theUS Rustbelt and Hauts-de-France have resisted decades of policies designedto reinvigorate their economies. From deepening economic precarity to fallinglifespans to political backlash, the costs are massive and growing.This book investigates a novel solution to the problem: universal basic income.Since the Global Financial Crisis, basic income has gained traction as a way toremake national social protection to better provide security. Yet basic incomealso fi ts the bill for regional policy. In the regional policy world, the long-termfailure of regeneration schemes focused on manufacturing and innovation hasled to a focus on endogenous development: Regional dynamism achieved bymaximizing the talents and contributions of existing residents. The fi t betweenbasic income and this agenda is more than aspirational. Worldwide, regionsand municipalities are leading the way in experimenting with basic income andother unconditional cash transfers.Cash in Hand systematically investigates the case for basic income as regionalpolicy. We start by examining the problems of ‘left-behind’ places and thecomplicating challenge of economic precarity. We then survey the growth andpopularity of basic income, and systematically evaluate the large corpus ofevidence from basic income trials. The book concludes by examining politicalpathways to establishing basic income as policy innovation for left-behindplaces. The audience for these questions is broad. It includes municipal,regional and national policymakers; scholars of society and economy; socialprotection experts; third-sector and advocacy organizations; and anybodyinterested in building economies that work for all.