When central banks increase the money supply (via quantitative easing or lowering reserve requirements), each existing unit of currency represents a smaller fraction of the total. This dilution manifests as higher prices — but not uniformly. Assets (stocks, real estate) inflate first, consumer goods follow later.

Named after Richard Cantillon (1680-1734), this describes how money creation is inherently redistributive. In modern fiat systems, commercial banks create money through lending. Borrowers (corporations, real estate investors) receive purchasing power at pre-inflation prices. Wage earners — last in line — face higher prices with unchanged income. This is the core injustice that RTM addresses.

RTM demonstrates that any money system respecting individual economic freedom must follow specific mathematical constraints. The key insight: if money creation is not symmetric (equal for all members), it creates involuntary wealth transfers. The Universal Dividend is not charity — it is the mathematically necessary condition for a free monetary system.

The UD growth rate c is derived from human life expectancy (~80 years). It ensures that over a lifetime, no generation is advantaged over another. The formula guarantees that regardless of when someone joins, after one 'half-life' period, they hold roughly the same relative share as everyone else. This is temporal symmetry.

Unlike Proof-of-Work (energy waste) or Proof-of-Stake (plutocracy), the Web of Trust bases consensus on human relationships. To join, a person must be certified by 5 existing 'Smiths' (validators). This ensures one-person-one-account without centralized KYC. Smith status requires ongoing community participation.

Unlike CPI (Consumer Price Index), which governments can manipulate through methodological changes (hedonic adjustments, substitution effects), the Sovereign Basket is transparent and fixed. Each community defines its own basket, enabling honest cross-country comparisons. UVD serves as the universal unit of account for these baskets.

Traditional framing of universal dividends as 'basic income' triggers political resistance (association with welfare). Time-Equity reframes: just as every citizen has equal access to roads, courts, and clean air, every person should have equal access to newly created monetary units. This is not redistribution — it is fair initial distribution.

If N = 1,000,000 members, updating each account every block would be computationally prohibitive. Lazy Claiming stores a monotonically increasing UD Index. When a user initiates a transaction, the runtime calculates: pending_ud = (current_index - user_last_claimed_index) × ud_per_unit. This is O(1) per claim instead of O(N) per block.