THE NATIONAL GROWTH COMPACT

A Framework for the AI Economy

Version 1.9 -Updated May 2026— Public Draft for Open Discussion

Submitted by T.R.

Independent Researcher | The National Growth Project

nationalgrowthproject.substack.com

contents

SYNOPSIS

This is a systemic proposal intended for rigorous public stress-testing. Its simplicity is its primary strength.

By shifting the tax base from human labor to gross revenue, we move from a nation backed by debt to a nation backed by assets. This framework directly addresses the structural economic shifts necessitated by the AI-driven automation of the 21st century — a transformation that is already underway and for which current policy has no answer.

The National Growth Compact rests on five interlocking pillars:

• A Universal Revenue Tax (URT) on corporate gross sales, extended to all imports via the Import Parity Levy
• A Sovereign Investment Fund (SIF) that builds every American's personal National Equity Account from birth
• A Citizens' Income Account (Universal Basic Income) funded by URT revenue — not the SIF
• The abolition of the Payroll Tax, delivering an immediate raise to every worker
• A voluntary Treasury-to-Equity Swap that progressively retires the national debt

This document is Version 1.7 — a public draft published for open debate, stress-testing, and collaborative refinement. Section 9 contains the known gaps and open questions. Section 10 addresses healthcare. The architecture is sound. The precise calibration requires more minds than one.

SECTION 1: THE ENGINE — THE UNIVERSAL REVENUE TAX (URT)

The URT is a flat tax on gross U.S. revenue — not profit, not income, but top-line sales. It is simple, transparent, and nearly impossible to offshore or hide through accounting maneuvers. It replaces the complexity of the current corporate tax code with a single clean rate applied to the one number every company reports publicly: gross revenue.