Asset-based welfare is an economic theory of poverty eradication based upon the redistribution of productive assets in an economy rather than income.
But their ideas did not gather much attention as the French and American revolutionaries developed system of social democracy in which state intervention and central planning played a significant role.
Another British historian Gareth Stedman Jones describes how asset-based welfare can be a part of social democracy and can eradicate poverty.
Robert Skidelsky argues that the individuals in an economy should receive an unconditional grant of resources (stock of capital) which will give the poor a platform to reach a standard of living from where they can move forward on their own towards prosperity.
To be successful, an asset-based policy should overcome challenges such as initial inequality, unorganized sectors of the economy, imbalance in asset building and inadequate state effectiveness.
[4] To have a sustainable development based on asset-based policies, public intervention is important to increase access to assets such as land, housing and credit.
Secondly, infrastructural investments are required which ensure better access to services, energy and market opportunities which increase the returns on assets that public holds.