Seeding policy: Viral cash and the diverse trajectories of basic income in the United States
This article examines the concept of "viral cash" and suggests that the future growth of basic income programs will depend on advocacy networks rather than traditional policy diffusion across jurisdictions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100 basic income pilot programs emerged in U.S. cities, transforming basic income from a national policy aspiration into a diverse set of local experiments.
These “viral cash” initiatives, enabled by emergency federal funding and city autonomy, have influenced broader social policy and seeded ongoing innovation at the local level, even as national adoption remains unlikely.
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