The respected financial journalist Martin Wolf has spelled out the arguments for LVT in this article in the Financial Times. Curiously, it is headed “Why Cable’s mansions tax is right”, because Cable’s mansions tax is not LVT. The author has merely used Cable’s proposal as a peg to hang the LVT case on. Hooray!
Of course, as the Campaign has been arguing for many...
An alarm call to LVT advocates
Fred Harrison, the forthright and veteran LVT campaigner, has an important message for all of us in the light of the present economic crisis.
“The fate of the 21st century will be sealed by the decisions made by governments over the next two or three years. At the risk of appearing to sensationalise, I must state that, in my humble view, the fate of Western civilisation hangs in the...
LVT wouldn’t work – people say
This is an extract from a discussion on the Guardian’s “Comment is Free”
I’m not convinced by the argument.
To start with, you are describing a method of taxation. It’s not clear why “poverty and unemployment; widening divisions between rich and poor; boom-slump cycles; housing shortages; inadequate infrastructure; and damage to the environment” will be...
LVT means a bigger cake
Some critics of LVT argue that it just shifts the money around a bit, and nothing more. This is not so. Replacing existing taxes by a land tax actually does result in increased production and wealth creation. It does this in two ways.
Isn’t LVT a tax on gardens?
Land value taxation is sometimes criticised for being a “Garden Tax”, which would hit home owners in the leafy suburbs. Of course it is not, until the owner applies for and gets planning consent to demolish the house and put up a block of flats on the site. Which often happens, but that is a decision by the owner, another decision by the planners, and is a response to market...
The fall of the giants
What is going on now in the economy is like the progressive collapse of a dam. First, a crack, then a small leak, and over the past twelve months it has turned into a breach