Assets, ownership and public services Tom Bentley 17 th March 2007 Santiago

- 1 - Outline Global distribution of asset ownership Impact of changing returns to capital and labour Ways of thinking about assets and policy opportunities Links between asset formation and participation Opportunities for public service reform

- 2 - Land area Source: worldmapper.org

- 3 - Wealth increase

- 4 - Housing prices (ppp) 2002

- 5 - Primary education spending growth

- 6 - International licence fees and royalty exports 2002

- 7 - Global inequality Source: wikimedia commons

- 8 - Source: Tony Atkinson Asset ownership shapes the distribution of growth

- 9 - Source: Tony Atkinson US Median income grew at % per year less than mean income

Inequality growth is compound: left alone, rich get richer Globalisation of equity, product, job markets broadens spread of outcomes, raises entry barriers and therefore deepens marginalisation: access to savings vehicles, housing ownership, personal and business credit all relevant. Material and financial assets intertwine with intellectual and social capital; in particular, as returns to skill increase, investment in human capital increases as a long term influence on life chances

The role of assets Spreading financial assets Integrated lifetime accounts Individual Development Accounts Child Trust Fund Pension reform Skills and education accounts New credit and property instruments Microcredit, Grameen Bank De Soto property rights Shared equity and self build housing schemes Public finance and institutions Australia: Future Fund Chile: Economic and Social Stablisation Fund Norway, Canada, long term funds from oil revenues Participative public services Institutions which encourage long term asset formation by sharing responsibility and investment: Health, work, learning, saving

Victoria’s National Reform Agenda: productivity and participation

The potential of human capital investment for participation

Successful system design depends on overlapping fields of participation (and the quality of their institutions) Economic SocialDemocratic Role of intermediary institutions in shaping choices, enabling asset formation, mobilising participation, is crucial State’s role is increasingly to shape the environments in which market choices are taken and capabilities formed

Link to public services: a source of institutional innovation Community asset ownership: buildings, public spaces, organisations Personalisation of services Direct participation and dialogue across communities Social partnership for income distribution and ‘good work’ agenda Shared investment vehicles for asset accumulation Deliberative participation in everyday settings Public service framework focused on human capital formation as well as security