Social Credit, also known as Douglas Credit, is an economic theory developed by British engineer C.H. Douglas in the early 20th century. It argues that there is a chronic gap between the total purchasing power of consumers and the total prices of goods produced, due to how money flows through the economy. To bridge this gap, Douglas proposed distributing a "National Dividend" to all citizens and adjusting prices to reflect real production costs, aiming to ensure that consumers could afford to buy what the economy is capable of producing. The idea influenced political movements, particularly in Canada and parts of the Commonwealth.