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The debate on basic income (henceforth BI) seems to be contra-cyclical. The underlying reason for the coming and going of BI in and out of the picture, is the relationship between the welfare state and unemployment. In periods of recession, e.g. the 1930s, late 1970s and early 1980s, there are more discussions about BI than in periods of economic prosperity (e.g. during the so-called Golden Age of capitalism in the 1950s and 1960s). If unemployment is high and to a large extent involuntary, the policy to push the unemployed to accept (non-existent) jobs or to curtail social benefits becomes highly controversial, and as a corollary, forms of BI (or negative income tax) become more fashionable. Unemployment, in particularly large scale and long lasting unemployment, can safely be considered as one of the greatest problems for social policy makers. In the literature concerning the labour market and social …