A quarter century of trickle-down economics has failed. Economic inequality in the United States has dramatically increased. Many, alas, seem resigned to this growing chasm between rich and poor. But what would happen, ask Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, if America were to make good on its promise of equal opportunity by granting every qualifying young adult a citizen’s stake of eighty thousand dollars? Ackerman and Alstott argue that every American citizen has the right to share in the wealth accumulated by preceding generations. The distribution of wealth is currently so skewed that the stakeholding fund could be financed by an annual tax of two percent on the property owned by the richest forty percent of Americans.
Ackerman and Alstott analyze their initiative from moral, political, economic, legal, and human perspectives. By summoning the political will to initiate stakeholding, they argue, we can achieve a society that is more democratic, productive, and free. Their simple but realistic plan would enhance each young adultís real ability to shape his or her own future. It is, in short, an idea that should be taken seriously by anyone concerned with citizenship, welfare dependency, or social justice in America today.

"A serious, smart book, which also functions as a cogent critique of the inequality of opportunity that has become a given in modern America." New Yorker "A Big New Idea so bold in its simplicity, so pure in its claims to justice,...that the only shock is that it is certain to get a hearing as the fight to fix Social Security heats up this year." Matthew Miller, New York Times Magazine "The new century needs political and social innovation even more than it needs business innovation. The authors have done well what intellectuals are supposed, but are seldom bold enough, to do: innovate ideas about important social issues." Jack Beatty, Atlantic Monthly "A big idea like this is significant because it can reframe the public debate. It can change the prevailing assumptions. Eventually, it can change the course of the nation." Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Washington Post

Bruce Ackerman is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School. Anne Alstott is professor of law at Yale Law School.