Guaranteed income near?

By an overwhelming 3-to-1 margin, Swiss voters have rejected a proposal that would have guaranteed all residents a monthly income whether they worked or not. Yet supporters of the concept elsewhere are not taking the Swiss no for an answer. Frequently proposed in the past, guaranteed income for all is back in vogue because of fears that robots and artificial intelligence threaten whole categories of jobs, especially for less skilled workers, and that any remaining jobs will be unstable gigs. Economists' usual prescription is greater investment in education and training, to equip people for high-paying work. Backers span the ideological spectrum: Andy Stern, ultra-liberal former president of the Service Employees International Union, cites straightforward social-justice arguments as the title of his new book Raising the Floor suggests.