• Goal: Create a permanent, universal monthly cash floor large enough to live on if work vanishes or becomes intermittent in an AI-driven economy.

• Constraints: High federal debt (~$38T as of Oct 2025) and persistent inflation (~3 % YoY).

• Design principles:

  1. Fully funded or net-neutral to demand at steady state.

  2. Counter-cyclical — automatic stabilizers built in.

  3. Universal, taxable, and simple to administer (direct deposit like Social Security).

  4. Data-light — no means testing.

  5. Phased in gradually to avoid macro shocks.

• Scenario A (lean floor): $ 800 per adult | $ 300 per child → gross ≈ $ 2.2 – $ 2.4 T / yr

• Scenario B (living-wage floor): $ 1 500 per adult | $ 500 per child (2025 $) → gross ≈ $ 3.5 – $ 3.9 T / yr by 2032

• Key: “Gross” ≠ “net.” Funding (below) recycles existing spending and taxes back at the top, keeping new demand within inflation targets.

Automation & Prosperity Trust (APT)

A ring-fenced sovereign fund, Alaska-style, paying annual “AI dividends” to citizens.

A. AI / Automation rents (new bases)

1. Compute & model excise on frontier training/inference above thresholds.

2. Windfall profit surtax on productivity outliers (> 10-yr trend + margin band).

3. Automation displacement levy on robotized hours or AI value-add (shielded by safe-harbor formulas).

4. Data & spectrum royalties for commercial use of public assets.

B. Broad tax bases (stable funding)
5. Progressive VAT (5–8 %) with rebates → $ 0.5 – $ 1.3 T / yr
6. Carbon fee & dividend ($ 50 → $ 75 / ton) → $ 0.2 – $ 0.4 T / yr
7. Financial transactions levy (≤ 0.1 %) → $ 0.06 – $ 0.1 T / yr
8. High-end base repair — align capital gains and labor rates, close shelters → $ 0.1 – $ 0.3 T / yr

C. Sovereign assets
9. U.S. Prosperity Fund (seeded by AI rents, spectrum auctions, patent royalties): target $ 1 T principal within a decade → $ 40 – $ 60 B / yr returns.

D. Offsets / retargeting
10. Consolidate cash-like programs (EITC cash portion, some TANF) into UBI; keep healthcare & disability intact.
11. Taxable UBI: top-quintile recoups part at filing, reducing net cost.

This structure links automation-era rents (new winners) with broad bases (stability) via a dividend model Americans already understand.

• Fully funded: All UBI dollars offset by taxes or AI rents to prevent net demand shocks.

• Automatic stabilizers: UBI ramp pauses if CPI > 3.5 %.

• Taxable design: High-income recapture limits excess spending.

• Productivity offsets: Automation lowers unit costs, keeping real prices flat even as incomes rise.

• Fed coordination: Average-inflation targeting and forward guidance align monetary and fiscal signals.

  (Current benchmarks: debt ≈ $ 38 T and CPI ~ 3 % YoY, Oct 2025 — necessitating a funded design.)

• Eligibility: Citizens + permanent residents (children via guardians).

• Payments: Monthly via IRS/SSA rails (Direct Deposit or FedAccounts for unbanked).

• Integration: High-earners repay at source via withholding.

• Indexing: Peg to median consumption basket or CPI; pause COLA when CPI > band.

• Congress: Passes AI Dividend & UBI Act and authorizes APT.

• Treasury / IRS / SSA: Revenue collection & payment rails.

• Commerce / FTC / DOJ: Manage data royalties and AI market competition.

• DOE / EPA / FERC: Administer carbon fees and infrastructure integration.

• Federal Reserve: Policy coordination and macrostability.

• States: Optional co-dividends and regional add-ons.

• APT Board: Independent, audited, and transparent (Alaska model).

• Civic & academic partners: Longitudinal impact studies (Finland + Stockton SEED models).

• Alaska PFD: Decades of unconditional cash with stable prices and broad support.

• Stockton SEED: +$ 500 / mo → higher full-time employment and mental health gains.

• Finland Trial: Improved well-being with no labor collapse; lower bureaucracy.

Phase 0 (2025–2026): Blueprint & Pilots

• Draft legislation; CBO scoring; multi-city pilots ($ 800–$ 1 500 / mo).

• Stand up APT legally and begin collecting early automation excises.

Phase 1 (2027): Starter Dividend

• $ 300 / adult $ 100 / child from carbon + small VAT + compute levy.

• Build FedAccounts/postal banking access.

• COLA paused if inflation > 3 %.

Phase 2 (2028–2029): Lean Floor

• Scale to $ 800 / $ 300; expand automation and profit levies.

• VAT to 5–6 %; tax recycling for top brackets.

Phase 3 (2030–2031): Living-Wage UBI

• Step to $ 1 500 / $ 500 (2025 $); indexed annually from 2032.

• VAT to 6–8 % with enhanced prebates.

• APT distributions fund ≥ 25 % of UBI.

• Introduce regional cost-of-living multipliers (+ 10–20 % for coastal metros).

Phase 4 (2032 +): Steady State & Optimization

• Full inflation-indexing & automatic adjustments.

• APT principal ≥ $ 1 T; majority funding from automation rents + investment returns.

• Inflation band: Pause COLA when 12-mo CPI > 3.5 %.

• Deficit guardrail: Auto rate rises or temporary reductions for top incomes if deficit > threshold.

• Sunset & review: 5-yr review on poverty, equity, and inflation metrics. Congress must re-authorize if targets met.