About David Jenkins

I hold a PhD in political theory: Thesis started out about concept of effort and, without forethought, developed into full-blown advocacy for a UBI. Currently working on a post-doc about the radicalism implicit in the unconditionality of a basic income.

Supply and Demand

Supply and Demand

The connections between supply, demand and inflation are well-known. However, when a great deal of the work performed by a population is not obviously productive in any way and still gets paid for, shouldn’t this result in inflation? If a lot of the work we do really isn’t productive, i.e. does not do much for the supply-side of things, […]

Tough (the toughest) challenge

Tough (the toughest) challenge

If we are serious about basic income we need to be clear on the costs implied – some of those costs may be large enough to give long pause for thought. Immigration is undoubtedly the largest and most pressing of these costs.

Immigration & Technology

Immigration & Technology

The logic in arguments against immigration often runs up against the realities produced by the huge technological advances currently underway in production. Are jobs finite and being ransacked by foreigners? Or are there always going to be jobs, whatever the drive of technological advancements? UKIP Party Conference (Opening Speech) This is not an essay on the […]

Possible Futures

Possible Futures

The following is a report on a talk held on 14.02.2015 by the London Futurists. David Jenkins and Barb Jacobson spoke for around 50 minutes, followed by just over an hour of discussion. Comments and questions were wide-ranging, and spread along a great many different political, social and economic spectra. This is an attempt to […]

Report on New Putney Debates (30/10/2014)

Report on New Putney Debates (30/10/2014)

Following on from a report I wrote summarising a meeting held in the Houses of Parliament back in April, this is a report from a lively and interesting discussion that took place on the 30th October at the Institute of Education, London. Invited speakers were Barb Jacobson , coordinator at Basic Income UK, Ben Baumberg, Lecturer […]

A Perspective on Inflation

A Perspective on Inflation

This article is a (possible? viable?) response to one of the few criticisms against UBI that actually holds water. My training is not as an economist and so this intended as a starting point for a larger discussion. If everybody received a UBI, so the argument goes, the price of goods will increase: If I […]

Happiness is Coca Cola apparently

Happiness is Coca Cola apparently

You do not need to adjust your computers. The following video is not parody. It comes straight from the black soul of capitalism without filter or irony. This video is Coca-Cola spreading the message that they care for the workers they have systematically exploited – and murdered with para-military assistance – across the Majoritarian World. […]

A World Without Work

What would a world without “work” – those scare quotes are important – really look like? The following is openly utopian – hopefully in the best possible sense of that word – but its inspiration essentially boils down to the maximization of time and the minimization of worry. I assume a lot and there are certainly gaps, practical […]

Het Goeie Leven‏ (The Good Life)

Het Goeie Leven‏ (The Good Life)

Today Cinqo and the Association for Basic Income in the Netherlands release the music video ‘Het Goeie Leven’ (The Good Life) by Dutch artists Pharao and Yara. The song was made to promote the universal basic income in an original and positive way. Basic Income is a hot topic in the European Union as more […]