Loek Groot is Associate Professor of Economics of the Public Sector at Utrecht University School of Economics (USE). His research focuses on the economics of the welfare state and the interaction with the labour market, with a special focus on the proposal of a basic income. His PhD, ‘Basic income and unemployment’ (1999), was awarded cum laude. Other research interests are environmental economics and sport economics. Currently he is working on a project under the working title ‘World’s public goods’.