We think our wealth today comes from productive corporations and workers, but they merely add icing to a cake baked long ago. In this provocative book, Peter Barnes argues that most of today's wealth is co-inherited from nature and past human efforts, not individually earned. If some of that co-inherited wealth were placed in trust for each of us, living and yet-to-be born creating what Barnes calls universal property capitalism would be fundamentally transformed.

As Barnes notes, capitalism as we know it has two tragic flaws: it relentlessly widens inequality and destroys nature. Both flaws are a result of one-sided property rights that favor capital over everything else. Adding universal property to the current property mix would create a market economy in which businesses prosper, natures limits are respected, and a large middle class thrives. This smart and concise book could set the agenda for a post-COVID world.

Peter Barnes is a socially responsible entrepreneur and writer about capitalism. His previous books includeWho Owns the Sky?,Capitalism 3.0, andWith Liberty and Dividends For All.

Acknowledgments Foreword by James K. Boyce Authors Note 1 What Is Universal Property? 2 Why Markets Fail 3 Twenty-First Century Realities 4 The Jobs Of Universal Property 5 Interlude for Imagination 6 Universal Money Pumps 7 Toll Gates at Natures Edges 8 The Politics of Universal Property 9 The Adjacent Possible Notes Bibliography Index