Stockton, California: Sowing the SEED of Universal Basic Income

Guest: Lori Ospina, Director of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) A little later this year, the city of Stockton, California will start handing out monthly checks of $500 - no strings attached – to some of its residents. It’s an attempt to test something that’s never been tried in the United States – guaranteeing a basic income for people to spend as they see fit. Conservatives and liberals have long toyed with the idea, for different reasons. But the devil’s in the details and that’s why all eyes are on Stockton’s experiment called the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED.