Origins of Universal Grants

John Cunliffe is Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. His research interests are mainly in the history of modern property theories. He has published papers in a wide range of journals. Guido Erreygers is Professor of Economics at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. In recent years his research has focused on the history of debates on inheritance, basic income and basic capital, with special emphasis on the contributions of Belgian economists. He has published in a wide range of professional journals.

• SECTION I: BASIC CAPITAL PROPOSALS Agrarian Justice (1797); T.Paine Some Causes of Popular Poverty (1817); C.Blatchley The Rights of Man to Property (1829); T.Skidmore Brownson's Defence. Defence of the Article on the Laboring Classes (1840); O.Brownson The Right to Labour and Property (1848); P.Voituron Natural Law, or Justice as a New Governance for Society according to the Destiny of Man (1854); N.De Keyser Social Economics (1874); A.De Potter SECTION II: BASIC INCOME PROPOSALS The Rights of Infants (1797); T.Spence "Agrarian Equality - To Mr. R. Carlile, Dorchester Gaol" The Republican, 1824; A.Davenport "Lettre de Fourier au Grand-Juge" (1803); C.Fourier Solution of the Social Problem or Humanitarian Constitution, Based Upon Natural Law, and Preceded by the Exposition of Reasons (1848); J.Charlier Scheme for a State Bonus (1918); E.M.Milner & D.Milner A Reasonable Revolution. Being a Discussion of the State Bonus Scheme - a Proposal for a National Minimum Income (1919); B.Pickard The Community's Credit. A Consideration of the Principles and Proposals of the Social Credit Movement (1922); C.M.Hattersley The Next Ten Years in British Social and Economic Policy (1929); G.D.H.Cole Principles of Economic Planning (1935); G.D.H.Cole Something to Look Forward To. A Suggestion for a New Social Contract (1943); J.Rhys-Williams

'I highly recommend this anthology, which is an invaluable source of original documents, some of them available in English for the first time. The selections show how forerunners to contemporary guaranteed income schemes raised and addressed crucial issues as well as arguments for and against such schemes.' - Richard K. Caputo, Basic Income Studies