New Books Network Joe Williams, "Inequality in the Digital Economy: The Case for a Universal Basic Income" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Feb 21, 2026
Andrew White, Lecturer in culture, media, and creative industries and author of Inequality in the Digital Economy, explains how digital markets concentrate power and why technological progress has not delivered shared prosperity. He discusses universal basic income as a tool to reconfigure work, support caregiving and creativity, and push for sustainable, decommodified measures of value.
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Personal Precarity Informed Research
- Andrew White lived through precarious unemployment after leaving China, which shaped his research.
- That personal precarity pushed him to finish the book on UBI.
Define UBI As Universal And Subsistence
- Define UBI as universal, unconditional, and at a subsistence level for dignity.
- Target a living-wage benchmark (e.g., state pension level) to ensure real security.
Winner-Takes-All Wealth Concentration
- Tech firms concentrate huge profits while employing relatively few people, widening inequality.
- This winner-takes-all pattern reduces jobs and compresses labour income share.
