From Marginal Revolution I learn of the Unincorporated Man, a sci-fi book in which people are born with rights to only 75% of their incomes. The rest is shared between their parents and Government. Further ‘shares’ can be sold to pay for things such as degree courses, or, well, anything I guess. The Government’s 5% share in you at birth represents the only form of ‘taxation’ under this model.

I think this libertarian model is neat, and it makes the share of your income that Governments presume to ’own’ a lot more transparent. Ditto your duty to your parents. However, it does creates an incentive to dupe your investors. For example you could sell stock in yourself to fund a college degree and an MBA, then develop a drinking problem and use the dip in share-price to buy-back your stock. Perhaps the Incorporated Man would need to be audited by doctors?

Apparently, this firm is already pioneering this idea, in Latin America.