Proposal explorer
The Giving America Fund, in Action
As proposed Skeptical? Stress-test the Fund — replay any market history since 1929, change any rule
Fund rules
% of the Fund’s trailing 5-yr average value, distributed yearly
payout may rise to this rate to prevent cuts
Advanced rules
distributions grow at most this much per year (real)
years of unrestricted ramp-up before the cap applies
legal maximum share of the US market
Annual distributions to social programs
today’s $ billions per year · selected scenario emphasized
Ownership share of the US market
the Fund’s stake in every public company · dashed line marks the legal cap
Cumulative net cost vs. crisis benchmarks
everything invested minus distributions that replace tax spending · selected scenario
Net position: Fund assets minus cumulative net cost
what the government is actually up, counting the Fund it owns · selected scenario
Data table — selected scenario
Method. The Fund invests the chosen share of GDP each year (US GDP $31.5T today, growing 2%/yr real) into the total US market ($75T today). Payouts are the payout rate times the trailing five-year average fund value (Alaska-style smoothing, covering only years the Fund has existed), with a no-decline floor funded up to the downturn ceiling and, after the start year, a yearly growth cap that banks boom-year excess as a reserve. Replay scenarios apply actual S&P 500 real total returns (Damodaran, NYU Stern) and CPI (Minneapolis Fed) beginning in 2030; the custom window can start in any year from 1929 to 1976; the average scenario uses a flat 10% nominal return. Benchmarks: COVID fiscal response ≈$5.2T (2020–21); 2008 bailout $800B ≈ $1.24T today. Figures match the essay’s accompanying workbook.