The Campaign has – can have – no view on the rights or wrongs of the decision to build a third runway at Heathrow. But we have an interest nevertheless, as it is bound to affect land values in the immediate vicinity and indeed throughout south-east England. This will come about as a result of:-

Nearly two years after the bank crisis which initiated the present phase of the economic crisis, it is evident that the experts, including the people who advise governments, have a very incomplete grasp of what is happening. Current economic theory ignores land and its role in the economy…

Britain’s Captains of Industry have always been foremost amongst the advocates of free market economics, but not, it seems, when they themselves are in trouble. Now they too have joined the queue of benefit claimants and have got their begging bowls out. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF) have sent a joint letter to the chancellor,...

Earlier this week, the Guardian carried on its front page a diagram with a thick red line pointing down. This showed what was happening to Britain’s Gross Domestic Product, and was intended to portray the dire state of the economy. But what does it really mean? The meal prepared from home-grown food and eaten at home does not register on the GDP statistics, whereas a ready-made meal make its...

We are all familiar by now with several well‑tried ways to successful landownership. Cash in on grants of planning permission (everywhere and anywhere). Collect other people’s subsidies or tax breaks (agriculture). Take advantage of infrastructural improvements (road, rail). Leech on to improved social order (Belfast), devolution of political and administrative authority (Edinburgh, Cardiff),...

“Negative growth” means contraction. The UK economy shrank by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter of the year. Who has become worse off and in what way? Some people have lost their jobs, their homes, or their life savings. Things seem set to get worse.

A recession is coming, says Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, and there will be pressure on sterling. We have been, say commentators, living beyond our means. This does not altogether add up. Are we about to be subjected to an economic storm, blown in from the Atlantic like a weather system? Recession is a loosely used term which suggests a decline in the total size of the economy. Leaving...

In its autumn forecast, the Ernst and Young ITEM Club says that the UK is entering inevitable recession, with GDP forecast to shrink by 1% over 2009, followed by a slow recovery to just 1% growth over 2010. Even if recent government rescues have pulled us back from the brink, a lot of damage has been done and the availability of credit will improve only very slowly. Corporate profitability has...

It is astonishing how long-running Observer journalist and former Labour Party adviser Will Hutton manages to miss the point about the economy. Sadly he is at it again today. It is a pity because in his position he could shed light on what his happening and help people understand. Instead, he just adds to the fog of confusion. Will Hutton – Smoke clears to reveal the monster of rising un...

Very soon there will be a couple of million involuntarily idle people. There will also be a rash of derelict sites as vacant commercial buildings are demolished to avoid the business rate. There is a connection between the two. Whilst Britain’s flexible labour market has been much vaunted, there has no attempt to make Britain’s land market flexible. On the contrary. Increased demand...