"All-out assault" : inequality and corporate capitalism -- Too big to fail : the dominance of private capital -- Fair shares : social wealth funds and the sharing of national wealth -- The international experience : what can we learn? -- How to pay for the UK's first social wealth fund -- Power cut : the dilution of capital ownership and a citizen's payment -- An income for all : can citizen's income work? -- From the drawing board to reality -- Towards a sharing economy.

Could social wealth funds reduce inequality and tackle austerity? This book proposes radical new ways to close the growing income gap and spread social opportunities. Drawing on international examples, Stewart Lansley argues that mobilizing the huge financial potential of UK public assets could pay for a pioneering new social wealth fund. By strengthening the social assets base, such a fund would boost economic and social investment and simultaneously strengthen public finances. Social wealth funds could also, he argues, ensure that more of the gains from economic activity are shared by all rather than consumed by a powerful few, as well as possibly win widespread public and political support. Offering a powerful antidote to the rhetoric and policies of austerity, this is a fascinating, topical contribution to current debates about social economics.