The Citizen’s Dividend: Phil Anderson’s Proposal
Executive Summary
Phil Anderson (PSE) wrote a policy paper arguing that economic rent — the returns from land and natural monopolies — should be distributed as a Citizen’s Dividend to all people. This doubles as the abolition of most conventional taxation. Anderson explicitly frames this as eliminating the need for big government by redirecting the economic rent that currently funds corruption and oligarchy.
Why critical for Floyd: This is the explicit bridge between Floyd’s two worlds — PSE investing framework AND CommonWealth/UBI Works UBI advocacy. Phil Anderson is not just Floyd’s investing guru — he’s also advocating for the same policy positions Floyd fights for. This synthesis is worth highlighting in Floyd’s talks.
Core Argument
The Problem: Who Gets the Rent?
- Economic rent = returns to land and natural monopolies (things no one produced)
- Currently: captured privately, funds corruption (Malaysian 1MDB, Saudi royals, political patronage)
- The observation: “To get really rich, really quick these days — just become a politician”
- This is the georgist critique applied to government itself: the state appropriates and redistributes rent to cronies
The Solution: Citizen’s Dividend
- Collect ALL economic rent publicly (land value tax, resource royalties, etc.)
- Distribute equally to all citizens as a dividend
- Effect: doubles typical wages (because you no longer need income taxes to fund government)
- Most current taxes become unnecessary because rent collection is sufficient
The Domesday Connection
- Anderson references the Domesday Book (1086) — William the Conqueror’s census of land and its value
- Historical precedent for states knowing and taxing land value
- “The greatest landlord of all time” — Anderson’s description of the Crown in feudal England
- The feudal king actually captured more economic rent than modern governments do!
- Modern “private property rights” broke this connection — privatizing what should be public
Why This Abolishes Big Government (Counterintuitively)
- Current big government = funded by labor/income taxes = punishes productive work
- Current big government = grants/subsidies/regulation = mostly benefits rent-seekers
- If rent goes to citizens directly: no need for most redistributive programs
- The government’s role shrinks to land value administration + basic public goods
- Freedom through proper economic design, not through austerity
Singapore as Proof
- Anderson observed (Postcard #25) that Singapore’s 95% leasehold model works:
- No idle land, no empty buildings
- Government captures land appreciation
- Returns value via CDC vouchers (form of citizen’s dividend)
- Result: efficient, low-corruption, high-living-standard city-state
Connection to CommonWealth/UBI Works
- Floyd’s advocacy org frames UBI as a dividend on shared assets (land, data, natural resources)
- Anderson’s “Citizen’s Dividend” is precisely this framing
- Both argue: UBI is not charity — it’s your share of the common wealth
- This is the Georgist/Paineite argument (Thomas Paine’s “Agrarian Justice” from 1797 was first to propose this)
Timeline
- 2019-2020 | Phil Anderson publishes “Your Citizen’s Dividend” [Source: Readwise Reader, “Your Citizen’s Dividend”, Phil Anderson/PSE, circa 2019-2020]
- 2025-12 | Floyd saves to Readwise Reader
- 2026-04-13 | Brain page created from Readwise ingestion [Source: Readwise Reader ingestion, 2026-04-13]
See Also
- Phil Anderson — PSE founder and author
- progress-and-poverty-henry-george — the theoretical foundation
- CommonWealth — Floyd’s advocacy org with the same thesis
- UBI Works — Canadian UBI advocacy
- citizens-dividend — the concept
- singapore-land-policy — the real-world example