Distributive Design
Distributive design draws a sharp line between two approaches to equality. Redistribution allows an economy to generate whatever distribution of value it generates, then uses taxation and transfers to correct the outcome after the fact — fighting the current rather than redirecting it. Distributive design builds equity into the structure itself: ownership models, governance frameworks, and institutional architectures that determine how value is generated and allocated from the moment of creation. The dam is built before the water arrives, not after the downstream communities have flooded.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Raworth identifies five key domains of distributive design: the distribution of wealth (who owns what), enterprise (who controls what), technology creation (who designs what), knowledge (who knows what), and the power to create money (who finances what). Each has direct implications for AI that the industry has largely ignored.
The distribution of wealth is the most visible. AI productivity gains generate enormous new value. In the current structure, that value flows overwhelmingly to the