Editing Citizen's dividend

{{short description|Georgist proposed policy}}
{{about|a special case of [[Universal Basic Income]] as proposed by [[Georgists]]|the similar [[socialist]] concept|Social dividend|the policy of unconditional stipend in general|Universal basic income}}
{{redirect|Citizen's income|the social welfare assistance program which was in effect in Italy between 2019 and 2024|Citizens' income (Italy)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
[[File:Thomas Paine rev1.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Paine]] (1737–1809) was a major inspiration for this policy.]]

'''Citizen's dividend''' is a proposed policy based upon the [[Georgist]] principle that the natural world is the [[Commons|common property]] of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments ([[dividend]]s) from revenue raised by leasing or taxing the monopoly of valuable [[land (economics)|land]] and other [[natural resource]]s.

== History ==
A concept akin to a citizen's dividend was known in [[Classical Athens]]. In 483&nbsp;BC, a massive new seam of silver was found in the Athenian silver mines at [[Laurium]].<ref name = PT4>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23220;layout=;loc=Them.%203.1 Themistocles 4]</ref> The dispersal of this provoked great debate. The statesman [[Aristides]] proposed the profit from this should be distributed among the Athenian citizens.<ref name = h219>Holland, pp. 219&ndash;222</ref> However he was opposed by [[Themistocles]], who proposed the money be spent building warships for the Athenian navy. In the end, Themistocles' policy was the one adopted.<ref name = h219 />

In the [[United Kingdom]] and [[United States]], the idea can be traced back to [[Thomas Paine]]'s essay, ''[[Agrarian Justice]]'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100213005643/http://www.thomaspaine.org/Archives/agjst.html "Agrarian Justice"], Thomas Paine</ref> which is also considered one of the earliest proposals for a [[social security]] system. Thomas Paine summarized his view by stating that "Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."  Paine saw inheritance as being partly a common fund and wanted to supplement the citizen's dividend in a tax on inheritance transfers, but [[Georgism|Georgist]] supporters now focus on natural resources.

== Implementations and proposals ==
This concept is a form of [[universal basic income]] (UBI), where the citizen's dividend depends upon the value of natural resources or what could be titled as [[Common property|common goods]] like [[Economic rent|location values]], [[seignorage]], the [[electromagnetic spectrum]], the industrial use of air (CO<sub>2</sub> production), etc.<ref name=medium>{{cite web|last1=Makwana|first1=Rajesh|title=From Basic Income to Social Dividends: Sharing the Value of Common Resources|url=https://medium.com/basic-income/from-basic-income-to-social-dividend-sharing-the-value-of-common-resources-725929634fc8|website=Medium|access-date=8 May 2015|date=13 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518074123/https://medium.com/basic-income/from-basic-income-to-social-dividend-sharing-the-value-of-common-resources-725929634fc8|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Permanent Fund Dividend implementation in Alaska ===
The U.S. state of [[Alaska]] dispenses a form of citizen's dividend in its [[Permanent Fund Dividend|Permanent Fund dividend]], which holds investments initially seeded by the state's revenue from mineral resources, particularly [[petroleum]]. In 2005, every eligible Alaskan resident (including children) received a check for $845.76. Over the 24-year history of the fund, it has paid out a total of $24,775.45 to every resident.<ref>{{cite web|title=THE PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND|url=http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/dividend/dividend.cfm|publisher=Alaska Permanent Fund|access-date=12 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117184423/http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/dividend/dividend.cfm|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref> Some believe this dividend as the reason why Alaska has one of the lowest rates of inequality and relatively low levels of poverty compared to other US states.<ref name=peoplesvoice/>{{dubious|date=October 2016}}<!-- It seems unlikely that this is due to the small amount distributed by the fund, compared to the large inequality created by tech and media industries in other states which are less dominant in Alaska.  More sources are needed. --> A 2018 paper found that the Alaska Permanent Fund "dividend had no effect on employment, and increased part-time work by 1.8 percentage points (17 percent)... our results suggest that a universal and permanent cash transfer does not significantly decrease aggregate employment."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Damon|last2=Marinescu|first2=Ioana|date=February 2018|title=The Labor Market Impacts of Universal and Permanent Cash Transfers: Evidence from the Alaska Permanent Fund|journal=NBER Working Paper No. 24312|doi=10.3386/w24312|url=http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Jones_Marinescu_2019_labor-market-impacts-universal-transfers.pdf|access-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019205544/http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Jones_Marinescu_2019_labor-market-impacts-universal-transfers.pdf|archive-date=19 October 2019|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Carbon emissions reduction proposal ===
The concept is also promoted as a tool to reduce carbon emissions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cap and Dividend|url=http://www.ilsr.org/instead-cap-and-trade-cap-and-dividend/|publisher=Institute for local self-reliance|access-date=11 August 2013|date=29 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503162349/http://www.ilsr.org/instead-cap-and-trade-cap-and-dividend/|archive-date=3 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Peter Barnes (entrepreneur)|Peter Barnes]] created the concept of "Sky Trust" as an example of how this could be implemented.  Barnes proposes setting up a public trust to manage the funds, separate from the private sector being taxed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Peter|title=With Liberty and Dividends for All|publisher=Berrett-Koehler|isbn=9781626562141|page=128|edition=1|year=2014}}</ref> A calculation based on specific assets by Barnes estimates that American citizens could each get $5,000 per year by this model.<ref name=peoplesvoice>{{cite web|last1=Makwana|first1=Rajesh|title=From basic income to social dividends: sharing the value of common resources|url=http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2015/03/22/from-basic-income-to-social-dividends-sh|access-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518042251/http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2015/03/22/from-basic-income-to-social-dividends-sh|archive-date=18 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>  

=== Swiss experiment proposal ===
A Swiss campaign in 2013 advocated for a citizen's income which could net each citizen an amount equivalent to $34,000.<ref name=peoplesvoice/> A citizens dividend based on resources according to [[Thomas Pogge]] is due to every citizen because everyone owns an inalienable stake in all limited natural resources.<ref name=poggegrd>{{cite journal|last1=Pogge|first1=Thomas|title=Eradicating Systemic Poverty: brief for a global resources dividend|journal=Journal of Human Development|date=2001|volume=2|issue=1|page=66|doi=10.1080/14649880120050246|url=https://lms.manhattan.edu/pluginfile.php/41279/mod_resource/content/1/Pogge%20Global%20Resource%20Dividend.pdf|access-date=15 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135251/https://lms.manhattan.edu/pluginfile.php/41279/mod_resource/content/1/Pogge%20Global%20Resource%20Dividend.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2015|citeseerx=10.1.1.488.2173|s2cid=154946253}}</ref> His theory goes along with Barnes with the exception of ownership, Pogge contends that the people own the resources.<ref name=medium/><ref name=poggewp>{{cite book|last1=Pogge|first1=Thomas|title=World Poverty and Human Rights|date=2002|publisher=Polity|isbn=9780745641430|page=29|edition=1|url=http://thomaspogge.com/books/world-poverty-human-rights/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919070037/http://thomaspogge.com/books/world-poverty-human-rights/|archive-date=19 September 2015}}</ref> ''The Progress Report'' says that the dividend should be valued by the free market.<ref>{{cite web|title=Citizens Dividend how big guaranteed income|url=http://www.progress.org/tpr/citizens-dividend-how-big-guaranteed-income/|website=The Progress Report|access-date=15 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415051134/http://www.progress.org/tpr/citizens-dividend-how-big-guaranteed-income/|archive-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>

=== Maryland proposal ===
John Moser, a 2018 congressional candidate in Maryland, ran chiefly on the proposal that a citizen's dividend based around a portion of all income would eliminate homelessness and hunger, and would act as a collective risk share as used in [[Nordic model]] nations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Baltimore Sun Voter Guide on John Moser|url=https://elections2018.news.baltimoresun.com/us-house/district-7/john-moser/|access-date=31 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111121715/https://elections2018.news.baltimoresun.com/us-house/district-7/john-moser/|archive-date=11 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Modernizing Tax and Income Policy|first1=John|last1=Moser|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1irL9dK-8Od8OSwtBkupc76VhqiZ5VV1IYT0Z5O_tTQ4/edit|access-date=31 May 2018}}</ref>

=== New Physiocratic League ===
The New Physiocratic League, a project advocating for an economic reform revolving around shifting taxation towards land, advocates for a form of citizen's dividend as part of its Three Pillars program of income support.<ref>{{cite web|title=The New Physiocratic League Platform|date=18 February 2018 |url=https://newphysiocrats.org/platform/|publisher=New Physiocratic League|access-date=28 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105225434/https://newphysiocrats.org/platform/|archive-date=5 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Citizen's dividend proposal in India ===
[[Rahul Chimanbhai Mehta]], an Indian politician, has proposed a form of citizen's dividend. In his system, two-thirds of the [[royalty payments]] from mining and [[wireless spectrum]], as well as the rent collected from some [[public land]] would be dispensed as monthly payments to all Indians above the age of seven.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mineral Royalties for Citizen & Military Law Draft|url=https://www.mygov.in/newindia/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/newindia614014_1548769550.pdf|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215165133/https://www.mygov.in/newindia/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/newindia614014_1548769550.pdf|archive-date=15 December 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The remaining third would be allocated for the [[military]]. His proposal allocates less funds for parents who have more than four children and for legal minors but more funds for [[senior citizens]]. According to his estimate, this can result in a monthly income of approximately Rs. 1000 for every Indian.<ref>{{cite web|title=Third proposed change in Indian Administration|url=https://www.rahulmehta.com/mrcm_demand_03.htm#a_0005|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215165311/https://www.rahulmehta.com/mrcm_demand_03.htm|archive-date=15 December 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Other proposals ===
Several philosophers and economists connect [[left-libertarian]] ideas with support for UBI. Of these, the most closely related theory to [[Georgism]] calls for a citizen's dividend—that is, a UBI equal to the monetary rental value of natural resources and socially created wealth. Writers advocating citizen's dividends include [[Peter Barnes (entrepreneur)|Peter Barnes]] (author of ''With Liberty and Dividends for All''), economist Nic Tideman and activist Jeff Smith.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wealth and Want: Citizen Dividends|url=http://www.wealthandwant.com/themes/Citizen_Dividends.html|access-date=29 December 2020|website=www.wealthandwant.com}}</ref> Barnes proposes setting up a public "Sky Trust" to manage the funds creating from taxing pollution, greenhouse gases and other actions that deplete the value of shared natural resources.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barnes|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGWEAwAAQBAJ|title=With Liberty and Dividends for All: How to Save Our Middle Class When Jobs Don't Pay Enough|date=4 August 2014|publisher=Berrett-Koehler Publishers|isbn=978-1-62656-216-5|language=en}}</ref>

Other theorists use left-libertarian insights without strictly connecting the monetary value of resource value with the level of UBI. [[Philippe Van Parijs]] makes a freedom-based argument for the highest sustainable UBI regardless of the value of natural resources, justified partly on the basis that the labor market is imperfectly competitive and produces a significant amount of "job rents."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Parijs|first=Philippe van|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a46FAAAAMAAJ|title=Real Freedom for All: What (if Anything) Can Justify Capitalism?|date=1995|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-827905-1|language=en}}</ref> [[Guy Standing (economist)|Guy Standing]] uses many left-libertarian or "[Thomas] Painist" arguments for UBI,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Standing|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iyFDwAAQBAJ&q=plunder+of+the+commons|title=Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth|date=29 August 2019|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-0-241-39633-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Standing|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgX1DAAAQBAJ&q=the+corruption+of+capitalism|title=The Corruption of Capitalism: Why rentiers thrive and work does not pay|date=14 July 2016|publisher=Biteback Publishing|isbn=978-1-78590-111-9|language=en}}</ref> along with [[Progressivism|progressive]] and [[social-democratic]] arguments for UBI without committing to resource- or rent-based financing of UBI.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Standing|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeEzDQAAQBAJ&q=guy+standing|title=The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class|date=20 October 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4742-9417-1|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Standing|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s70zWz00aP4C&q=guy+standing|title=Work After Globalization: Building Occupational Citizenship|date=1 January 2010|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-84980-237-6|language=en}}</ref>

To reduce [[economic inequality]] to levels he considers more advantageous, [[Steven Pearlstein]] proposes a $3000 per year dividend for Americans completing [[K-12 education]], with a requirement to at some point perform three years of [[public service]] (or, alternatively, [[profit sharing]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=Can American Capitalism Survive?: Why Greed Is Not Good, Opportunity Is Not Equal, and Fairness Won't Make Us Poor |author=Steven Pearlstein |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1250185983}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* [[Asset-based egalitarianism]] (basic capital)
* [[Carbon fee and dividend]]
* [[Common good]]
* [[Common land]]
* [[Common ownership]]
* [[Geolibertarianism]]
* [[Global resources dividend]]
* [[Land value tax]]
* [[Property-owning democracy]]
* [[Prosperity Bonus]]
* [[Public land]]
* [[Public property]]
* [[Redistribution of income and wealth]]
* [[Resource nationalism]]
* [[Social ownership]]
* [[Sovereign wealth fund]]
* [[State ownership]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

== References ==
* {{cite book | last=Holland | first=Tom | title=Persian Fire | publisher=Abacus | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-349-11717-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/persianfirefirst00tomh }}
* [[Clive Lord]]. ''A Citizens’ Income''. John Carpenter, 2003. {{ISBN|1-897766-87-4}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120728224956/http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/dividend/dividend.cfm The Permanent Fund Dividend]

== External links ==
{{Library resources box}}
* [https://pfd.alaska.gov/ Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110914160721/http://www.progress.org/dividend/ Progress.org: Citizen's Dividend]
* [http://www.wealthandwant.com/themes/Citizen_Dividends.html Wealth and Want]
* [http://cod-democracy.blogspot.com/ Citizen-ownership Democracy]
* [https://newphysiocrats.org/ The New Physiocratic League]

{{basic income}}
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[[Category:Dividends]]
[[Category:Employment compensation]]
[[Category:Universal basic income]]
[[Category:Georgism]]
[[Category:Citizenship]]
[[fr:Revenu citoyen]]