ABSTRACT
The growth of production will generate jobs and thereby provide directly a decent income to the bulk of the population. However three facts have been shattering this confidence. Firstly, despite GDP per capita having doubled or trebled since the golden sixties. Secondly, given the ecological limits, including those derived from the impact of human activities on the climate worldwide. Thirdly, even among economists who do not question the desirability of growth or its ability to tackle unemployment, some now have doubts about the very possibility of sustained growth. Unlike social insurance schemes, social assistance schemes can be called unconditional in the sense that they are not restricted to people who paid enough social contributions to qualify for social insurance benefits. An unconditional basic income is a strictly individual entitlement; it is universal and duty-free rather than tied to an obligation to work or to be willing to work.
