Sir Arthur Lewis’ equalitarian vision

Revisits and adapts some economic ideas of Sir Arthur Lewis. Writing for the Fabian Society at midcentury, Lewis argued against nationalization of industry and instead for redistribution of wealth through the tax system: by running an average government surplus in successive years, the government might use the surplus to buy corporate shares and similar wealth, establishing a public patrimony. This chapter suggests that a Social Endowment Fund built in this way might be run essentially as an index mutual fund, thus retaining an arm’s-length distance between economic and political decisions. Some obstacles to this program are considered and responses sketched.