Policy framework · GitHub

The proposition

A policy framework for levying a share of the savings generated by automation and using it to fund a universal dividend. The premise is that automation gains currently accrue almost entirely to capital while the displacement costs fall on labour and the public purse, and that the mechanism for redistributing them has to be designed before the displacement, not after.

Design

Rather than argue the principle in the abstract, the framework specifies the mechanism:

  • A flat Automation Dividend Contribution rate of 20%
  • A 0.33 weighting applied to offshore workers, to close the obvious avoidance route
  • A compensation floor and cap
  • Startup exemptions, with connected enterprise rules to prevent structuring around them
  • Article 0 — a pilot Universal Dividend Welfare Fund
  • Article 14 — housing provisions

Open questions

Income tax and National Insurance erosion, addressed in Section 5B, remains the significant unresolved problem — as automation displaces taxed labour income, the existing revenue base contracts at the same time the dividend obligation grows.

Status

Published and iterating, with steady organic referral traffic.