A global platform for equal opportunities
Start Equal is founded on a social liberal vision: a world with equal opportunities, not necessarily equal outcomes, but a truly equal and empowered start in life for all. We directly address the “birth lottery”—the profound starting injustice created by inherited privilege that undermines a truly liberal and social market economy.
Framework
Our strategic pillars, starting capital prototypes, and network partners
Analysis
Access our own analysis and policy proposals for discussion.
Background
A collection of media and research articles on inheritance and related topics.
Framework
Our mission is to prototype, promote, and build a global ecosystem for more equal inheritance distribution through a starting capital paid at birth or age of maturity.
We will execute this mission through three core strategies:
- Piloting “Equalstart Capital”: We will run a “Liberty-as-a-Service” platform that provides a trusted service for philanthropists to fund basic capital injections for young people. This is our operational engine.
- Building the Movement: We will unify the global network of starting capital actors and align it with the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) sector active in international development under the principle that “equal opportunity doesn’t stop at borders,” and multiply our model through spinoffs.
- Advocating for Systemic Reform: We will use the data and stories from our pilots as an evidence-based tool to lobby for the ultimate goal: government-led reform of inheritance schemes that channel the bequest streams of one generation into funding a universal inheritance fund for everyone in the next generation.
Analysis & Proposals
Find our own analysis and policy proposals for a more liberal and just inheritance system below.
babybondBasic Inheritance Light: What real-world baby bonds teach us about a universal basic inheritance
Since the 2000s, many countries have introduced Child Development Accounts and baby bonds. A comparison shows: they prove universal starting capital is feasible – but they are only a 'basic inheritance light'.
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handicapStatus and Inheritance: Hanno Sauer’s “Class” analysis.
In the book “Class. The origin of top and bottom.” the author Hanno Sauer makes the claim that that economic redistribution—no matter the form: whether a basic inheritance, UBI, progressive taxes, etc. —actually intensifies the problem of status hierarchies, because
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libertySimone Weil’s (1943) “right to property” against uprootedness
Simone Weil (1909–1943), was a philosopher who died working for the French resistance movement against Nazi-Germany. She is noted for her intense patriotism, Jewish heritage, and Christian spirituality, possessing a “great soul and brilliant mind” (in the words of T.S.
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ordo-liberalismOrdo-liberalism, starting justice and a universal basic inheritance: Alexander Rüstow
Alexander Rüstow, a towering figure in the German Ordoliberal school of thought, developed his ideas while navigating a tumultuous political period. As an opponent of the Nazi regime, he fled Germany in 1933 and spent his exile years as a
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erzbergerMatthias Erzberger’s ambitious inheritance reform of 1919
Matthias Erzberger, a pivotal figure in early 20th-century German politics, stands out among proponents of inheritance reform due to his background as an active politician rather than an academic, and for having actually implemented his major tax reform proposals, at
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100% inheritance taxThe ‘Abolition of inheritance’: Theodor Oelenheinz
In the times of socialist revolutions in post-war Germany, the lawyer Theodor Oelenheinz, son of a bank director from Karlsruhe, grandson of the former finance minister of Baden (Germany) Karl Georg Hoffmann[1], and brother of the artist and architect Leopold
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disabilityDisability and Opportunity: Can Inheritance Bridge the Gap?
One of the underlying assumptions in this text has been that financial privilege correlates with other privileges (see for instance our article on Biological Feudalism). The idea, put simply, is that if your parents are wealthy, you are likely to be
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wealth taxSecond-best at best: Why a wealth tax is no alternative to inheritance tax, nor a very good complement
In the discussion of inheritance taxes, wealth taxes feature prominently, sometimes as a useful complement, but often as an alternative. Where inheritance and gift taxes are one-off transfer taxes, wealth taxes usually occur annually. Wealth taxes aim at the total
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constitutional rightsInheritance Rights: A Constitutional Perspective
Sometimes, if all other arguments fail, defenders of inheritance will point towards the constitution and argue that its simply legally not possible to substantially or fully tax/abolish inheritance. Indeed many though by far not all constitutions explicitly acknowledge the right
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biological feudalismBiologocial Feudalism
Biological Feudalism Privilege can not only be passed on through economic or sociocultural channels, but also much more directly and fundamentally by biological means. The development of personal abilities and potential is influenced by a complex interplay of biological factors.
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Inheritance as equaliserInheritance as an equaliser?
Inheritance is sometimes touted as a mechanism that can reduce inequality by spreading wealth more evenly across society. This can technically be true, as there are a number of statistical mechanics at play. It doesn’t have to be like that,
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200% inheritance taxNatural Differences and the Handicap Principle: A case for 200% inheritance tax
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding… but time and chance happeneth to
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feudalismFeudalism: A thing of the past?
A short review of the history of feudalism in the Middle Ages is insightful for the inheritance debate in two very different ways. On the one hand, we can see historical feudalism as a prime example of inherited privilege, which
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110%110% inheritance tax: Compensating for privilege
As we have seen in previous articles on this blog, If this is the case, the question is not, do we need very high inheritance taxes, but rather, how high should they be? 100%? If we acknowledge the fact laid
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social mobilityThe “Three generation” myth: Does inequality regulate itself over time?
From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.Wealth never survives three generations.The father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells. The above are all variations of a persistent and widespread belief in what is called the ‘three generation rule’ or ‘third
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equality of opportunityEquality of Opportunity and Equality of Outcome: It’s just not the same thing!
The key concept of social-liberalism is equality of opportunity. It rests on the insight that true liberty can only be achieved through fairness: How can I be called free if I start off my life with a tremendous disadvantage compared
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constitutional rightsAgainst Majority Opinion? Equality of Opportunity as a Constitutional Right
Can we defend inheritance taxes against majority opinion? This article claims we can, by relying on constitutional rights protecting human dignity, liberty and equality. Abolishing inheritance due to its adverse effect on equality of opportunity may thus be the next
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cultural capitalInherited Privilege: Socio-Cultural Feudalism
Despite a formal abolishment of political feudalism through the democratic revolutions of the last centuries, a form of economic feudalism has survived up to the current day. However, privilege is not only inherited economically, but to a large extent also socio-culturally.
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bequest motiveInheritance tax and incentives: People will still work
Critics of inheritance taxes often argue that taxing inheritance and gifts would reduce the incentive to work and save, with adverse effects on the economy. If people would not be able to pass on their wealth to their children and
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family businessFamily businesses and inheritance taxes: debunking a myth
One of the most central arguments against inheritance tax is that it will be detrimental to the SME and family business sector (considered to be the stable backbone of many economies) by rendering family-internal company succession impossible. Heirs don’t inherit
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double taxationThere is no double taxation with inheritance taxes
Opponents of inheritance taxes often claim that the inheritance that is to be taxed had already been taxed before (e.g. through corporate or personal income taxes). As double taxation is often considered something tax regimes wants to avoid (note: in
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feasabilityTax Avoidance and Tax Evasion: A killer argument?
A popular and influential strand of arguments against inheritance taxes (and other wealth-related taxes such as capital income tax) doesn’t bother to question its desirability per se, but rather its feasibility. One of the two common concerns is tax evasion,
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free willMeritocracy, Handicap and Free Will
In any debate about taxation, the concept of meritocracy is central: the distribution of income and power according to merit, that is, performance and achievements. It is also a central liberal concept and thus of importance to this text which
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gift taxGifts and Inheritance: Any difference?
While it may appear straightforward to tax inheritance income given the perspective that emphasises the receiving side (unearned income) and prioritises negative effects on the living (inequality of opportunity) over the rights of the dead, taxing gifts is slightly more
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deathProperty rights and the freedom to bequest
The question of whether a deceased person does still enjoy legal rights, and if so: which, is certainly a very interesting one in the inheritance tax debate. This paper is largely arguing from the perspective that a deceased person loses
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charityEverything is better than donating to the government? Well, you don’t have to!
For many people, one of the key arguments against inheritance taxes lies in its recipient: “the state”, or “the government”. This has been put nicely by one Quora user: “[…] it is obviously preferable to do almost anything with money
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collectivismAll families are created equal? Individualism vs. Feudalism
In debates about inheritance, you can discover that disagreement about inheritance matters often boils down to disagreements about the ideological underpinnings. With this, I don’t refer to the potentially clear case of “left” vs. “right”, but to the slightly subtler
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questionsQuestions to tackle
Here are some of the questions we would like to reflect upon, research, analyse and ultimately come up with a set of policy proposals aiming for a more liberal and just approach to inheritance than we have right now. Can
Read More »Background on Inheritance
Find a curated selection of media and science articles on issues around inheritance, wealth and income inequality, taxation, family business sucession, and more below
100% inheritance taxExpropriation? Why 100 percent inheritance tax would be better
The article explores possible justifications for 100 percent inheritance tax. It’s based on the belief that equality of opportunity is not only a social but also a deeply liberal idea. You can not speak about a meritocracy when you have
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principlesReforming inheritance tax systems: Four guiding principles
Inheritance tax systems can play an important role in increasing social equality, yet across the world, these systems often struggle to achieve their intended aims. Étienne Fize, Nicolas Grimprel and Camille Landais outline four key ways in which they can
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discourseEarned vs. unearned: the German and Austrian discourse on inheritance tax
The authors of this study have evaluated 3573 arguments within the German and Austrian public discourse on inheritance tax. First clear result: he public opinion goes against inheritance taxes. This doesn’t come as a surprise. More insightful are the main and
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COVIDOECD calls for higher inheritance tax after Covid pandemic
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that warns wealth inequality will rise over the next decade unless death duties also increase. Decades of rising asset prices and a decline in inheritance tax rates globally means there are more
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inequalityInheritance is key to the concentration of wealth
The paper by Pirmin Fessler and Martin Schürz, both from the Austrian National Bank, argues that, across all euro area countries, inheritance plays a decisive role in defining the relative position of households in the distribution of wealth. Publisher: Australian
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100% inheritance taxHow 100% inheritance tax rates could feed an inheritance fund for everyone
The authors discuss how a 100% inheritance tax regime may be highly contentious but morally justified. The proceeds could go into a general fund from which something like a universal basic inheritance could be paid. The article underlines how such
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Why is it so difficult to tax the rich?
There is a paradox: A great majority of people would benefit from increasing taxes on the rich (and this is particularly true for inheritance taxes), but progressive tax reforms appear to run against what may be called a “tax barrier”
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optimal inheritance tax rateOptimal inheritance tax rate
Scholars estimate the optimal inheritance tax rate to be around 50%–60% or larger. In a 2012 article, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez find that the optimal inheritance tax rate might be as large as 50%–60%—or even higher for top bequests,
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inequalityMore than half of all inheritances and gifts go to the richest ten percent
Recent research from DIW Berlin shows how the wave of inheritances increases absolute wealth inequality and that policymakers should counteract this. German private wealth has more than doubled over the last 20 years, leading to annual inheritance flows around 400
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biasBiased media? Study on how inheritance tax debate is represented in the media
Hendrik Theine and Andrea Grisold from Vienna University analysed 10.000 articles in seven quality media over the last 20 years. They discovered deficits in three core areas when it comes to the coverage of the inheritance tax debate: 1) intensity
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inequalityThe smartest way to make the rich pay is NOT a wealth tax
It’s important to ask the wealthy to pay more, as inequality is rising. However, a wealth tax has several drawbacks and complications. Other taxes like an inheritance tax are preferable. It’s shown for the case of the USA how going
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fairnessA hated tax, but a fair one
NO TAX is popular. But one attracts particular venom. Inheritance tax is routinely seen as the least fair by Britons and Americans. This hostility spans income brackets. Indeed, surveys suggest that opposition to inheritance and estate taxes (one levied on
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