1. Expanding the Alaska Model to Recover from the New Enclosure of the Commons
NABIG Conference
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
May 26 , 2018
Gary Flomenhoft, Affiliate Fellow
Gund Institute, U Vermont, USA
PhD Candidate
Sustainable Minerals Institute
University of Queensland, Australia

2. Bucky Fuller quote: 2 hrs/day

3. QUOTES 1848-John Stuart Mill-Stationary State-more leisure time
1930-Keynes-by hr workweek
1932-Bertrand Russell-4 hrs per day
1970-Buckminster Fuller-11hrs per week
2000s-Juliet Schorr-The Overworked American
Bucky Fuller quote: 2 hrs/day

4. Increased working hours
WHAT HAPPENED?
Increased working hours
Working Hours
Both partners working. Work week is NOT getting shorter. Why?

5. 4. Enclosure of Labor and Time
Rule #4
4. Enclosure of Labor and Time
Labor Productivity increase 130%
Globalization
None of productivity gains go to labor. CEO pay goes up. Average worker gets nothing.

6. 3. Housing Price/Income ratio 1980-2010 doubled
Another reason workweek isn’t getting shorter

7. Tufts University 1977-$3300 2018-$14,000 (adjusted for CPI)
Cost of University Tuition
Tufts University
1977-$3300
2018-$14,000 (adjusted for CPI)
2018-$55,172 (actual)
55/14 = 4X CPI
Privatization of public education leads to massive student debt

8. 1. 1750-1860: Common land enclosed/ 21% of British land area
ORIGINAL ENCLOSURE ACTS: ENGLAND :
Common land enclosed/
21% of British land area
Enclosure of land forced people into factories. “Satanic Mills” --Dickens (

9. NEW ENCLOSURE OF THE COMMONS How the 1% does it
Every aspect of life enclosed/privatized
Enclosure of money and finance
Enclosure of democracy and governance
Enclosure of land and resources
Enclosure of labor and time
Enclosure of knowledge and education
Enclosure of culture
Neo-liberalism/globalization/Wash Consensus/TINA
NOT Market vs. State!
Enclosure of the Commons with complicity of the state
(Silent Theft-Bollier)

10. 1. Enclosure of Money and Finance
THE NEW ENCLOSURES of the COMMONS
1. Enclosure of Money and Finance
Central Banks are private banks
Commercial banks produce 97% of the money supply through loans, and collect interest*
Federal government has to borrow money from banks and foreigners, when it has the right to issue money itself interest-free.
Colonial Scrip/Greenbacks ( )
(Fed Reserve QE3=$85B/mo = $1T/year
Why not Basic Income? = $3164/person/yr) *

11. THE NEW ENCLOSURES
2. Enclosure of democracy and governance-plutocracy/”money party always wins”-Zensey
80-98% of candidates with most money wins
2012-$4.2 billion spent on election
$3 billion for TV ads on “public airways” (98% private)
D. SuperPACS-Citizen’s United=unlimited donations

12. 3. Enclosure of Land and Resources (Banks own most land not people)
THE NEW ENCLOSURES
3. Enclosure of Land and Resources (Banks own most land not people)
2008 GFC was a Land Bubble!
US oil royalty rate = 12.5%. “93rd lowest of 104 oil and gas fiscal systems evaluated”* *

13. 4. Enclosure of Labor and Time
THE NEW ENCLOSURES
4. Enclosure of Labor and Time
Working Hours
Labor hours stopped declining in 1970.

14. 5. Enclosure of Knowledge and Education
THE NEW ENCLOSURES
5. Enclosure of Knowledge and Education
Debt peonage-$1.5 trillion
Corn
32,000 genes evolved over thousands of years
Monsanto GMO corn inserts a few genes. Claims patent rights.
125,000 Indian farmers commit suicide because they can’t afford seed, and illegal to save seed.
Privatization of public education leads to massive student debt

15. WHOSE OX WILL YOU GORE? OR WILL IT GORE YOU?
Someone will have to pay and they won’t like it.

16. Methods to Finance BIG I. Taxes Wealth, Income, or Sales taxes
Elimination of means-tested social welfare programs
Tobin tax or other taxes on financial transactions
Taxes on natural resources or pollution
II. Central Bank Credit
Quantitative easing “for the people”/ social credit:  issuing money directly to citizens (helicopter money-Bernanke)
III. Economic Rent (Rent for use of the commons)
Natural Assets-Resource rents
Socially Created Assets

17. Methods to Finance BIG Taxes Perceived as Robin Hood
Violates reciprocity
II. Central Bank Credit
Emergency only-something for nothing
III. Economic Rent (Rent for use of the commons)
Share of common property

18. What is the Alaska Model? ($64.9B)
Dividend Year
Dividend Amount
2017
$1,100.00
2016
$1,022.00
2015
$2,072.00
2014
$1,884.00
2013
$900.00
2012
$878.00
2011
$1,174.00
2010
$1,281.00
2009
$1,305.00
2008
$2,069.00
2007
$1,654.00
2006
$1,106.96
2005
$845.76
2004
$919.84
2003
$1,107.56
2002
$1,540.76
2001
$1,850.28
2000
$1,963.86
1999
$1,769.84
1998
$1,540.88
1997
$1,296.54
1996
$1,130.68
1995
$990.30
1994
$983.90
1993
$949.46
1992
$915.84
1991
$931.34
1990
$952.63
1989
$873.16
1988
$826.93
1987
$708.19
1986
$556.26
1985
$404.00
1984
$331.29
1983
$386.15
1982
$1,000.00
What is the Alaska Model? ($64.9B)
(rent from oil-non-renewable resource on state land)

19. What is the Alaska Model?
Collect Resource Rent
Put in a savings Fund (Sovereign Wealth Fund)
Invest the money
Pay interest as a dividend
Q. Why create a savings fund?
A. Non-renewable resource
Q. If resource is renewable or non-depletable do you need a savings fund?
A. No

20. Peter Barnes-Capitalism 3.0 Common Asset Dividends
Natural assets
Air, water, land, minerals, forests, fish/wildlife, broadcast spectrum, wind, etc
Socially created assets:
stock markets/finance, money-seigniorage, land value, internet & web
Commons is our property: collect rent, not Robin Hood
Not stealing from the rich/give to the poor

21. Economic Rent on Oil 2008: $57-$125/barrel
What is economic rent?
Cost per barrel extracted including normal profit: $20-$165)

22. Democratic or Liberal Theory of Rent?
The liberal theory of rent (neo-liberalism):
suggests that public resources should be privatized and employed to make profits, and that rents should remain in private hands either entirely, or enough to ensure investment in the industry
The democratic theory of rent:
suggests that governments should maximize their collection of rent to the benefit of their publics, who own the resources.
(Warnock 2006: 6)

23. Vermont Common Asset Trust Fund
In “Exporting the Alaska Model, Widerquist/Howard
Asset
Total current economic rent
Current Vt Tax (in millions of US$)
Low Estimate: New Revenue potential (US$ million)
Explanation
High Estimate: including current taxes (US$ million)
Air
27.9
1.96
25.9
$3.07/ton CO2
2724.0
$300/ton Co2
Wildlife & Fish
25.1
14.7
10.4
new scarcity rent
tax + new revenue
Public Forests
30.2 27
3.2
10% depletion fee
Groundwater
107.9
royalty on bottlers
121.4
royalties + groundwater fees
Surfacewater
31.2
user fees
new revenue
Minerals
9.7
3.7
6.0
severance tax
16.2
Land Value
1,070.8
741
329.8
5% land tax
2143.0
10% land tax
Wind
5.4
0.74
4.7
progressive profit tax
172.5
Progressive profits tax
Internet & web
30.0
rent on ISPs and Web domains
rent estimate
Broadcast spectrum
375.0
Financial system
269.0
.25% speculation tax
743.0
2009 Baker study
Monetary system
35.7
1% on loans
2004 loans
Total (millions of US$)
2,017.9
789.1
1,228.8
6,447.3
Per capital dividend
$1,972
$10,348
VT Population:
623,050
Farley, Constanza, Flomenhoft, Kirk. The Vermont Common Assets Trust: An institution for sustainable, just and efficient resource allocation, Ecological Economics 109 (2015) 71–79

24. VERMONT DIVIDEND CHECK

25. Financing Basic Income; Addressing the Cost Objection Perreira, Editor
Item
Valuation $million
% of valuation
Raised $m
Existing revenue $m
Remainder $m
Economic Rent-Land and Resources
~2.5%
Land – Residential
2,794,800
5.50%
153,714
69,870
83,844
Land – Commercial
338,500
6.5
22,002
8,463
13,540
Land – Rural
263,700
14,504
6,593
7,912
Land – Other
287,700
15,791
7,193
8,599
Total land
3,684,700
206,011
92,118
113,894
Subsoil Minerals
67,
40%
32,813 -
Oil and Gas – PRRT
20,229
8,092
Total Minerals and Petroleum
40,905
1,500
39,405
Natural Monopolies
EMS
10,560
20%
2,122
1960/15=133.1
1,989
Corporate Commons fee
1,382,000 2%
27,640
Water Rights
50,000
2.60%
1,300 ?
Utilities
220,000
10%
22,000
3,200
18,800
Airports
1,919
765  0
Taxi Licenses
25,000
14,402
360
7.4
352.6
Fishing Licenses
2,100
840
13.8
826.2
Forestry
1800
2.7% 50
1.3
48.7
Gambling License
18,450
7,380
5,100
2,280
Public Transport
estimate
2,400 74
2,326
Frontiers of Monopoly
Domain Name Registration
100
3 million
300
Patents
12,980
0.005% 65
Satellite Orbit Rights
510
Internet Infrastructure
64,500
6,450
Banking License Fees
43,427
17,371
Existing Revenues
Parking fees
250
Liquor Licenses
Govt budget
4,000
Vehicle rego, Driver License
5,294
Sin Taxes - Tobacco, Alcohol
12,510
Carbon Tax
4, ,200
18,220
(18,220 repealed)
54,930
Govt Non Tax Receipts
20,323
50%
10,162
TOTAL (AU$millions)
$386,905
$289,252
Population (millions)
24.05
Basic Income per capita
AU$12,027
Total Economic Rents In Australia As a Source For Basic Income
(K. Fitzgerald, 2013
Financing Basic Income;
Addressing the Cost Objection
Perreira, Editor
Palgrave books
2017

26. Economic Rent-Land and Resources
Basis of Rent Calculation
Land – Residential
5.50%
Land – Commercial
6.5
Land – Rural
Land – Other
Subsoil Minerals
40%
Oil and Gas – PRRT

27. Natural Monopolies
Basis of Rent Calculation
EMS
20%
Corporate Commons fee 2%
Water Rights
2.60%
Utilities
10%
Airports
40%
Taxi Licenses
$25,000/ea
Fishing Licenses
Forestry
2.7%
Gambling License
Public Transport

28. Domain Name Registration 3 million x $100
Frontiers of Monopoly
Domain Name Registration
3 million x $100
Patents
0.005%
Satellite Orbit Rights
10%
Internet Infrastructure
Banking License Fees
40%
Basic Income:
AU$12,027/yr/person in Australia