With Liberty and Dividends for All: How to Save Our Middle Class When Jobs Don't Pay Enough

Peter Barnes argues that because of globalization, automation, and winner-take-all capitalism, there won't be enough high-paying jobs to sustain America's middle class in the future. Therefore, to survive economically, our middle class needs-and deserves-a supplementary source of nonlabor income.To meet this need, Barnes proposes to give every American a share of the wealth we own together- starting with our air and financial infrastructure. These shares would pay dividends of several thousand dollars per year-money that wouldn't be welfare or wealth redistribution but legitimate property income.

“"Peter Barnes takes the national discussion on inequality to a new and important level. Enormously thoughtful, insightful, and valuable." --Robert B. Reich, former US Secretary of Labor "Peter Barnes offers a market-based way to support our lower and middle classes and protect our planet at the same time. Anyone tired of Washington's stale political clich”

“Peter Barnes takes the national discussion on inequality to a new and important level. Enormously thoughtful, insightful, and valuable.”
—Robert B. Reich, former US Secretary of Labor

“Peter Barnes offers a market-based way to support our lower and middle classes and protect our planet at the same time. Anyone tired of Washington’s stale political clichés should read this book.”
—Van Jones, author of Rebuild the Dream

“I loved this book. It is clear and fast-paced and offers a breathtakingly logical solution to widening inequality and ecological degradation.”   
—Susan Witt, Executive Director, Schumacher Center for a New Economics

“Peter Barnes’s solution to the decline of our middle class is so left-wing that Sarah Palin has championed a version of it in Alaska.”
—Timothy Noah, author of The Great Divergence

“When you apply a brilliant business mind like Peter’s to the common good, you get great ideas like this one: dividends from wealth we own together. Let’s do it.”
—Marjorie Kelly, author of Owning Our Future

“While Thomas Piketty proposes to tax private wealth, Peter Barnes’s solution is to pay everyone dividends from wealth we own in common. Both approaches should be taken very seriously.” 
—James Boyce, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts

“In this unprecedented time, Peter Barnes’s splash of common sense is just what’s needed to spark a movement.” 
—Frances Moore Lappé, author of Democracy’s Edge

“Writing from a free-market perspective, I have long been concerned about the radical transformation that is occurring in our society. With this book, Peter Barnes shows how a system of universal dividends can simultaneously undergird a broad middle class and make possible a thriving market economy.”
—Dwight Murphey, author of A “Shared Market Economy”

“In the last three decades, the wealthy have received most of the benefits of economic growth, with typical workers seeing little or no gains. Barnes’s proposal to reverse this process with an equal distribution of income from co-owned wealth is worth serious consideration.”
—Dean Baker, author of The End of Loser Liberalism

“If you’re concerned about ever-growing inequality, you must read this book. It brings light to where there’s only been heat and points us toward a solution that will work for all.”
—Richard Parker, author of The Myth of the Middle Class

“It takes wisdom to transcend seemingly irreconcilable tensions on the issue of inequality. Peter Barnes’s ‘simple idea’ is grounded in such wisdom.”
—John Fullerton, President, Capital Institute

“Elegant, powerful, pragmatic, and hopeful. This book will change the debate about what’s mine and what’s ours.”
—David Morris, cofounder, Institute for Local Self-Reliance

“In this eloquent and powerful book, Peter Barnes identifies a major step toward a fair and just society. Better, he does so in the tradition of our Founders, who worked hard to ensure that every citizen would enjoy equal access to common sources of well-being.”
—Barry Lynn, author of Cornered

Peter Barnes is a writer and entrepreneur who has started and run several successful businesses. He cofounded Working Assets Long Distance (now Credo Mobile) and is the author of five previous books, including Capitalism 3.0.

Peter Barnes argues that because of globalization, automation, and winner-take-all capitalism, there won't be enough high-paying jobs to sustain America's middle class in the future. Therefore, to survive economically, our middle class needs--and deserves--a supplementary source of nonlabor income.To meet this need, Barnes proposes to give every American a share of the wealth we own together-- starting with our air and financial infrastructure. These shares would pay dividends of several thousand dollars per year--money that wouldn't be welfare or wealth redistribution but legitimate property income.

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