A left-libertarian proposal for egalitarian world ownership

Abstract

In this paper I advocate a left-libertarian approach to egalitarian world ownership that combines common ownership of land, following Henry George (where private appropriation is subject to the payment of rent), with joint ownership of finite and exhaustible resources such as oil (where use is subject to a collective decision-making process and tax paid at the point of extraction). This rent and tax together create a common fund available for global distribution. I argue that this approach offers improvements on Hillel Steiner’s proposal for a global fund, and Thomas Pogge’s proposal for a Global Resources Dividend (GRD) since it does not penalize states for the inclusion of valuable resources within their territory that are not being used, while it also does not allow states to benefit from the use of resources elsewhere while simultaneously refusing to exploit the resources within their own borders. Moreover, joint ownership need not conflict with the libertarian commitment to self-ownership, as is often thought to be the case, and when supplementing common ownership of land it can provide an egalitarian outcome as well as greater protection for future generations and the environment.