As artificial intelligence (AI) and automation reshape global economies, traditional labor-based wealth distribution is becoming obsolete. The widening wealth gap threatens economic stability and democracy, necessitating new mechanisms for equitable economic participation. Equitism—a system where collectively owned assets generate returns for all citizens—offers a sustainable solution that aligns free market principles with widespread prosperity.
Recent proposals, such as the Berggruen Institute’s Universal Capital initiative (https://berggruen.org/themes/universal-capital) and suggestions from Xu Gao Chief Economist of the Bank of China International (China) Co Ltd for citizen ownership of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Z6FJwnmY-MCbcRBUY8315Q) highlight growing recognition of the need for alternative economic models. Equitism refines these ideas, ensuring broad-based wealth ownership, market efficiency, and true democratic participation.
What is Equitism?
Equitism is an economic model where key assets, (natural monopolies)—like land, infrastructure, natural resources, and intellectual property (IP)—are collectively owned and generate income for all citizens. Instead of relying on wages from labor or top-down redistribution, Equitism ensures everyone has a permanent stake in wealth-producing assets. In particular it gives all people a share in the beginning of the economic process, the land and resources given freely by the earth, the shared infrastructure and the IP that enables creation (note: the creators of new ideas will get a greater share of the IP they create) This approach allows for free markets to flourish while reducing inequality, especially in an era where AI and automation are replacing jobs. It’s designed to be democratic, with citizens having both a financial share and a voice in how shared assets are managed. Equitism offers a new way to align prosperity, innovation, and fairness with sustainability concerns.
Equitism as True Market Freedom
Critics of wealth redistribution argue that it distorts markets and disincentivizes productivity. However, Equitism is not about redistribution—it is about restructuring ownership at its foundation. By ensuring that all citizens hold a stake in productive assets, Equitism expands economic freedom rather than limiting it.
Encouraging Competition and Efficiency: Unlike monopolistic capitalism, Equitism disperses economic power by granting everyone an ownership stake. Individuals directly benefit from optimizing assets like land, infrastructure, and intellectual property, fostering genuine competition.
Preventing Wealth Centralization: Instead of wealth accumulating in the hands of a few corporations or government entities, Equitism ensures decentralized ownership, mitigating the risks of corporate monopolies and state overreach.
The Berggruen Institute’s Universal Capital framework emphasizes this predistribution model, arguing that wealth should be broadly shared as it is created, rather than merely redistributed after accumulation. This aligns with Equitism’s approach of ensuring inclusive ownership from the outset.
Addressing AI-Induced Inequality
AI and automation are replacing human labor at an accelerating pace, exacerbating income disparities. If wealth distribution remains tied to labor income, millions will be left economically disenfranchised. Equitism provides a post-labor economic model by ensuring every citizen receives a permanent stake in wealth-producing assets.
-
A Universal Capital Base: Equitism ensures all individuals benefit from technological advancements by linking economic participation to asset ownership rather than employment.
-
Avoiding Economic Collapse: Without broad-based wealth distribution, declining labor incomes will weaken consumption and economic demand. Equitism sustains market dynamics by ensuring every citizen has a stake in economic prosperity.
-
Strengthening Democracy: Equitism extends beyond economic reform—it enhances democratic engagement. By giving citizens ownership stakes in communal assets, it empowers them with both economic and political influence.
-
Distributed Decision-Making: Citizens have direct votes on asset management, ensuring governance is driven by public interest rather than elite control.
-
Avoiding Bureaucratic Pitfalls: Unlike state-managed socialism, Equitism prevents inefficient centralization by keeping markets competitive and decisions decentralized.
The proposal from Xu Guo to distribute shares in SOEs to citizens aligns with this vision. By allowing citizens to trade these shares, it would introduce market discipline and efficiency while granting ordinary people a stake in economic production.
Transitioning to an Equitist System
To implement Equitism, societies must transition gradually, leveraging tools that facilitate wealth distribution without destabilizing markets:
- Interest-Free Loans:
Providing interest-free credit enables individuals to invest in housing and businesses, fostering economic stability and growth. Individuals could get an interest free loan via a decentralised coin/ledger or a central bank and that land purchased would then come under the new Equitism system. Most likely a leasehold would replace fee-simple.
This reduces reliance on banks and speculative financial markets.
- Tokenization of Communal Assets:
A created token with embedded stability could be issued to purchase Land, infrastructure, and intellectual property (IP) to be tokenized and distributed.
An 80/20 model, where 80% of assets remain fixed and 20% are tradable, ensures both stability and innovation.
- Public Capital Raising through Equitism:
Governments and enterprises could offer shares in communal assets instead of taking on debt, aligning economic growth with citizen prosperity.
This prevents wealth concentration by ensuring that new investments benefit all stakeholders rather than a select few.
Conclusion
Equitism is not merely an economic model—it is a reimagining of market freedom, democracy, and wealth distribution for the AI age. By replacing labor as the primary means of wealth allocation, it ensures that technological advancements do not lead to mass disenfranchisement. Through predistribution, participatory governance, and asset tokenization, Equitism fosters a system where economic efficiency and equity coexist.
As proposals like the Berggruen Institute’s Universal Capital and citizen SOE ownership in China indicate, the world is recognizing the need for systemic economic change. Equitism offers a scalable, democratic, and market-driven approach to that transformation, ensuring broad-based prosperity in the post-labor economy.
