This is a popular, but not exhaustive, introduction to the idea of Basic Income and direct cash transfer programs.
Even though I am a supporter of Basic Income, to start discussion I'd like to play devil's advocate and provide an alternate view by listing some of the negative criticisms of these programs and their results that I've heard, because the linked article takes a supportive view of them.
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Give Directly:
Give Directly is a new charity that is popularizing direct cash transfers, which previously were mostly done as economic experiments run by developmental economists under that context. GiveWell.org's positive evaluation of it provides a wealth of information on the charity. Give Directly is not just sponsoring these programs, it is also collecting data on their effectiveness and continuously refining its methods from the results.
Critics of these direct cash transfer programs say funding for them does not come from within the community itself, so the experiments are't reflective of self-sustaining programs for entire countries, and the culture and work ethic that exists in developing countries is different from that of developed countries, so giving cash in these countries will work because people will be entrepreneurial with it, while they wouldn't be in developed countries.
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Mincome:
Critics of this experiment cite the fact that Mincome was also similarly funded with money from outside the community, and the fact that it was designed to be temporary and recipients were informed that it was temporary. Since it was a temporary program, critics believe that those receiving Mincome knew it wouldn't last forever, and therefore did not reduce their employment or become dependent on it as they might have if it was a persistent part of their lives.