About the UBI Center
Our mission: To produce open-source research that informs a robust policy debate around universal basic income.
Values
UBI is worth serious research and public discourse.
Philosophers and economists have explored universal basic income for centuries, and a new appetite for bold ideas opens an opportunity for UBI, if it can become associated with real policy. Policymakers, advocates, and the media need to know how we'd fund it and whom it would affect in what ways. The UBI Center analyzes specific UBI policies, produces UBI plans, builds tools to communicate results, and evaluates policies in the vein of UBI.
The future of policy analysis is open-source.
Nearly all public policy analysis is performed by organizations that keep their code private, making it impossible to reproduce the analysis or adjust it with different parameters. Relying on organizations' trustworthiness reinforces political divisions and slows progress toward consistent analysis from the policy research community. Open-source analysis enables analysts to build credibility from peer review and produces better models from which we can all benefit.
All UBI Center work is on GitHub (soon this website will be too!). We welcome researchers who want to check our work, extend it to other analyses, or just help out. There's a lot to do, from building interactive graphics to analyzing more policies to incorporating labor responses and more.
Thanks to the Open Source Policy Center and Policy Simulation Library, whose models underlie much of the UBI Center's analyses.
People
Max Ghenis, Founder and President (US)
Max is the founder and president of the UBI Center. He is also a member of the Policy Simulation Library's leadership council, and was previously a data scientist at Google. Max has a master's degree in Data, Economics, and Development Policy from MIT and a bachelor's degree in operations research from UC Berkeley.
Nikhil Woodruff, Quantitative Researcher (UK)
Nikhil is a student at the University of Durham, UK studying Computer Science, where his interests include data science, simulation and its applications on public policy. He is the author and maintainer of the openfisca-uk microsimulation model of the UK tax and benefit system. Nikhil has previously interned at Caspian, where he worked in improving anti-money laundering investigations.
Nate Golden, Research Associate (US)
Nate is a math teacher in DC Public Schools, and formerly worked in the same position in Charlotte Mecklenberg Schools. Additionally, he has worked as a policy advisor for State Representative Leslie Herod of Colorado and a researcher for The Colorado League of Charter Schools through the Urban Leaders Fellowship summer program. Nate has a bachelor's degree in economics from Penn State University. He believes in the importance of policy work to alleviate poverty and inequality.
John Walker, Research Assistant (Australia)
John is a Master's student in development economics at MIT. Previously, he was a researcher in development and health economics at the University of Sydney, and he's also worked and volunteered in monitoring and evaluation and community engagement roles with development economics-focused NGOs, including the Global Green Growth Institute and RESULTS Australia. John is interested in how evaluation techniques from econometrics can be used to build more robust public policy that is sensitive to the needs of program recipients. John holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney.
Charles Bauman, Research Assistant (UK)
Charles is a recent graduate from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he completed a Master's degree in Theory and History of International Relations. He previously was an intern for the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, where he researched economic and foreign policy. Charles received a Master's degree in Medieval History from King's College London and a Bachelor's degree in History from Northwest Nazarene University.
Praneet Rathi, Research Assistant (US)
Praneet is a senior in high school from the northern suburbs of Chicago. His interests lie at the intersection of math, computer science, and economics, and he looks forward to study these topics in college. He is excited to see the impact UBI Center will have in facilitating more open discussions regarding eliminating poverty while maintaining the economy.
Matt Gilbert, Developer (US)
Matt is a senior at Harvard University, where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. He has previously worked for two startups in the clean energy field. He has also been involved with Harvard for Yang and Boston Basic Income. Matt has written a series of columns about universal basic income for the Harvard Crimson, a student-run newspaper. He believes that a world without poverty is possible.
Ankit Dhingra, Research Assistant (Canada)
Ankit holds an MBA from Queen’s University, Canada, and is currently finishing his MITx MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy. Most recently, Ankit worked with PwC Canada, where he led business intelligence for the retail and telecom sector. In total, he brings 9 years of corporate research and analysis experience. An aspiring policy analyst, Ankit’s interest lies in development and health policy. He is currently preparing his applications for public policy programs in Canada.
Deepak Singh, Research Assistant (UK)
Deepak is a rising junior at Harvard University, where he is an A.B. Honors candidate in Philosophy and Computer Science, and an Arete Fellow with Harvard College Effective Altruism. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Salisbury Open Data Project, and an alumnus of the American Enterprise Institute’s Summer Honors Program. He believes in combining philosophical approaches to public policy with insights from data science and artificial intelligence.
Nicholas Rodelo, Research Assistant (US)
Nicholas (Nick) is currently a Senior at Boston University, studying Economics. Nick has previously worked as a research assistant for topics in sociology and economics. He also has experience interning in insurance analytics and finance. Outside of school and work, Nick has previously played guitar/bass in a few bands and is an active record collector.
Connor Tragesser, Research Assistant (US)
Connor is a student at The Ohio State University studying economics and political science. Beyond the UBI Center, he also works as a research assistant in Ohio State's political science department. He has also been involved in multiple political campaigns in the Columbus area.
Katarina van Alebeek, Research Assistant (US)
Katarina graduated from Stanford University in 2019 with studies in Political Science and Philosophy. Her interest lies in the connection of policy and UBI, especially in how governments can implement effective UBI legislation. She has previously done research in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on storytelling as a tool for reconciliation and empathy-building.
Alums
Brendan Hassan, Research Assistant (UK)
Brendan Hassan is a senior at the University of Surrey studying International Relations. He also plays quarterback for the football team, where he is team captain and president of the club. At the Students' Union, Brendan is a member of the Activity Zone, where he helps to run clubs and societies at Surrey.