A California city cures poverty?

-Source-Reuters- Michael Tubbs the 27-year-old mayor of Stockton California has a radical plan to combat poverty in his cash-strapped city: a no strings" guaranteed basic income of $500 a month for its residents. Starting in early 2019 Tubbs plans to provide the monthly stipend to a select group of residents as part of a privately funded 18-month experiment to assess how people use the money. And then maybe in two or three years we can have a much more informed discussion about the social safety net the income floor people deserve and the best way to do it because well have more data and research" Tubbs told Reuters. The city has not yet decided how many people will receive income from the trial project which is funded by The Economic Security Project a philanthropic network co-chaired by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The idea of governments providing a universal basic income to their citizens has been gaining traction globally. The Finnish government is running a two-year trial to provide 2000 unemployed people with monthly payments of approximately $660. In Alaska each resident has long received an annual dividend check from oil revenues from the Alaska Permanent Fund which Tubbs said is a model for his approach. Last year the payout in Alaska was $1100.