How Big Should the Citizen's Dividend Be? Every guaranteed income plan until now stumbled at this question. Advocates wanted large payments, but opponents pointed out the distortionary effects those payments could have in the economy. And above all, large payments meant an expensive program, and therefore one that would be less likely of achieving political enactment. Instead of deciding, in a bureacratic, top-down way, how much money should go into the program, the solution is to let the economy decide that by itself. The basic principle is, "All revenue not generated by the free-market section of the economy should be distributed equally to everyone as their Citizen's Dividend." If the free-market economy produces $4 trillion, and monopoly privilege accounts for a further $3 trillion, then the amount of the Citizen's Dividend should be NO LESS and NO MORE than $3 trillion, the monopoly amount, divided by the number of citizens. Anything more than that would be robbing people of their legitimate earnings. Anything less than that would be allowing monopolists to take an unfair share. back to the Citizens Dividend main page