Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

EPILOGUE

Written on 5 July 2024. Posted in General, The Campaign.

by Henry Law The web site of of the Land Value Taxation Campaign has now been transferred to the Henry George Foundation for preservation as an archive and resource for future campaigners. A great deal of thought and discussion went into the work it produced over a period of nearly 25 years. Most of those responsible belong to the generation who came to adulthood at the end of the Second World...

Land value taxation is a non-starter – Richard Murphy

Written on 8 August 2023. Posted in Taxation.

Land value taxation is a non-starter when it comes to serious tax reform “My problem with LVT is that it is based on a mythical value that will never be explicitly recognised in an economic exchange i.e., in a sale value.” LVT, properly implemented, is based on RENTAL VALUES. These are easy to extract from actual rentals. There is a “floor” to rentals in the poorer areas of the country eg...

Mortgages – for the greater good

Written on 31 July 2023. Posted in Home-Owner-Ism.

Expect no real change of direction – guest blog by Robin Smith, commenting on broader issues of land policy… how mortgages have evolved into a neodemocratic political tool.

Land Value Covenants

Written on 10 July 2023. Posted in General.

Land Value Covenants are an idea floated by Robin Smith and the late Adrian Wrigley about twenty years ago, as an alternative to LVT as a means of land value capture for public revenue. The Campaign has no view on the concept but it might be worth exploring. The underlying principle of Land Value Covenants is that they would be a voluntary arrangement. Robin Smith would be happy to answer questions...

Unrest in France

Written on 10 July 2023. Posted in Current affairs.

Attention on the riots in France has focussed on the cultural issues relating to the integration of migrants, something which is affecting most of the countries of Western Europe. Migration from all over the world is one of the legacies of far-flung empires, but it is undeniable that migrants belonging to one particular group have particular difficulties. There is, however, an important economic...

The trouble with Catholic Social Teaching

Written on 26 June 2023. Posted in Blog.

“Catholic Social Teaching” refers to the body of teaching on politics and economics, producted by the Catholic Church, commencing with the Encyclical Rerum Novarum (RN) which was issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. RN falls into the same error as Marx: it does not identify land and natural resources as a special and unique category of thing, separate from man made property such...

Zahawi affair crocodile tears

Written on 31 January 2023. Posted in General.

Oh the hypocrisy. Who has not paid cash in hand to a tradesman to get a discount? The entire tax system is designed for avoidance and evasion. Nobody undestands it. My cousin who was an accountant, had a whole library of books about the UK tax system. It filled view metres shelves, stacked from floor to ceiling. The tax system is, in the main, nothing more than legalised robbery – a tariff...

A classical liberal view of the role of government

Written on 10 January 2023. Posted in General.

The government’s role consists of a set of duties. Defend the realm. Make justice available. Make land available so that all have the means to a livelihood. Deal with emergencies. Collect the rent of land to pay for the above. This gives rise to corresponding duties among the people. Support the defence of the realm. Act justly. Keep the land in good condition. Act in the event of emergencies. Pay...

Industrial unrest continues: prices keep rising

Written on 7 December 2022. Posted in Politics.

Industrial unrest continues. The railways have been disrupted for the best part of half a year. There is trouble in the NHS. I wonder how much of this is related to the fact that an increasing proportion of the work force is now close to, or already in, the higher rate income tax band? This applies particularly to the railways. At these pay levels, not much of any pay increase increase is reflected...

November budget 2022: Chancellor has got it precisely wrong

Written on 18 November 2022. Posted in Taxation.

NOTE: this article expresses the opinions of the author, Henry Law. They are not those of the Land Value Taxation Campaign. There is almost nothing to be said in favour of Hunt’s budget. There is no principle behind preserving the pensioners’ so-called triple lock; it is of course meant to secure the loyalty of a group of people who can be relied on to turn out to vote. Windfall taxes, however well...

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