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Redesigning Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder Grants as Cornerstones for an Egalitarian Capitalism
Volume V in the acclaimed Real Utopias Project series, edited by Erik Olin Wright.
Are there ways that contemporary capitalism can be rendered a dramatically more egalitarian economic system without destroying its productivity and capacity for growth?
This book explores two proposals, unconditional basic income and stakeholder grants, that attempt just that. In a system of basic income, as elaborated by Philippe van Parijs, all citizens are given a monthly stipend sufficient to provide them with a no-frills but adequate standard of living. This monthly income is universal rather than means-tested, and it is unconditional — receiving the basic income does not depend upon performing any labor services or satisfying other conditions. It affirms the idea that as a matter of basic rights, no one should live in poverty in an affluent society. In a system of stakeholder grants, as discussed by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, all citizens upon reaching the age of early adulthood receive a substantial one-time lump-sum grant sufficiently large so that all young adults would be significant wealth holders. Ackerman and Alstott propose that this grant be in the vicinity of $80,000 and be financed by an annual wealth tax of roughly 2 percent. A system of stakeholder grants, they argue, “expresses a fundamental every American has an obligation to contribute to a fair starting point for all.”
Are there ways that contemporary capitalism can be rendered a dramatically more egalitarian economic system without destroying its productivity and capacity for growth?
This book explores two proposals, unconditional basic income and stakeholder grants, that attempt just that. In a system of basic income, as elaborated by Philippe van Parijs, all citizens are given a monthly stipend sufficient to provide them with a no-frills but adequate standard of living. This monthly income is universal rather than means-tested, and it is unconditional — receiving the basic income does not depend upon performing any labor services or satisfying other conditions. It affirms the idea that as a matter of basic rights, no one should live in poverty in an affluent society. In a system of stakeholder grants, as discussed by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, all citizens upon reaching the age of early adulthood receive a substantial one-time lump-sum grant sufficiently large so that all young adults would be significant wealth holders. Ackerman and Alstott propose that this grant be in the vicinity of $80,000 and be financed by an annual wealth tax of roughly 2 percent. A system of stakeholder grants, they argue, “expresses a fundamental every American has an obligation to contribute to a fair starting point for all.”
- GenresEconomics
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2005
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July 4, 2019
Egalitarian Capitalism. Or State Capitalism. Or Crony Capitalism. Or Green Capitalism. Or whatever Capitalism. When the noun capitalism gets a single attribute it invariably means Socialism.
July 16, 2020
I read this book quite a few years after it was written. It is clear that we still have a long way to go to create a more equal experience of life in America. Only one of the chapters failed to hold me. Well reasoned, clear-eyed about the challenges related to a more just and moral distribution of opportunity, these essays highlight the ways we can improve and provide concrete examples of how to do it in the real world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews