Current affairs - Land Value Tax Campaign

Do LVT and Citizens’ Income belong together?

Written on 4 April 2013. Posted in Welfare.

Citizens’ Income is an unconditional benefit payable to all resident citizens. Could an LVT raise enough revenue to pay for it? If one considers the island model, under an LVT scheme all the rent is collected and put in a common fund. The islanders then have the choice as to whether to share it out equally between them or buy some Type 45 destroyers, and a few jet fighters.The citizens of...

Extreme poverty could be wiped out by 2030

Written on 3 April 2013. Posted in Welfare.

Extreme global poverty could be eradicated by the end of the next decade under optimistic new targets unveiled by the World Bank. The bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, claimed that there was now an “opportunity to create a world free from the stain of poverty” by 2030.

Land tax, not wealth tax

Written on 27 March 2013. Posted in Taxation.

We are opposed to wealth taxes. It might seem pedantic to say so but land is not wealth and a land title is not wealth but a piece of paper which is a claim on wealth ie the rental income stream from the land. It is easy to value land. The valuations can be put on a public register for everyone to see and question if they wish. As long as the valuations are revised regularly – not less than...

The Cameron budget

Written on 20 March 2013. Posted in Politics.

No reflection on Tallink who owns the rather blingy ship which sails on the Tallinn-Stockholm route. Comfortable cabins, nice food and all the crew and staff speak English.

London offices most expensive in world

Written on 13 March 2013. Posted in Economics.

London’s West End is the world’s most expensive office market once again after regaining its crown from Hong Kong’s Central Business District (CBD), according to research published in Cushman & Wakefield’s Office Space Across the World 2013. The report from the international property consultants highlights the scarcity of quality space in London which has increased competition...

Where are the LibDems going?

Written on 10 March 2013. Posted in Politics.

The LibDems somehow managed to hold on to Eastleigh at the by-election, and the Spring Conference is on this week at Brighton, so where is the party going? It has certainly not distinguished itself by supporting this disastrous Coalition, nor has it made matters any better when leading figures like Vince Cable have been pushing ludicrous proposals such as the Mansion Tax. Cable has no excuse since...

We predicted right five years ago

Written on 7 March 2013. Posted in Economics.

We have been warning about inflation since 2008. We argued then that the policies that were being put into place would not work. And they haven’t. Like a gambling addict on a fruit machine, those in charge of policy keep on feeding money in, hoping that the jackpot will arrive. Only there is no jackpot.

Fiscal emergency declared in Detroit

Written on 2 March 2013. Posted in Economics.

An article in the FT today reports that “The governor of Michigan declared a fiscal emergency in Detroit on Friday, clearing the way for the appointment of an outside manager with broad powers to oversee the finances of the debt-ridden city. The emergency manager could recommend a bankruptcy filing if he or she found the city’s fiscal problems were insurmountable. If Detroit took such...

Our brief address to the House of Commons

Written on 23 February 2013. Posted in Politics.

On Friday, Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, will have the opportunity to present the case for LVT in her Private Member’s Bill, which would “Require the Secretary of State to commission a programme of research into the merits of replacing the Council Tax and Non-domestic rates in England with an annual levy on the unimproved value of all land, including transitional...

Milliband grabs two stupid policies simultaneously

Written on 17 February 2013. Posted in Taxation.

Labour leader Milliband’s new-found support for a 10p tax rate and a Mansion Tax at the same time is the worst of politics and an insult to the intelligence of the electorate. A short band of income tax at 10% is inefficient and complex. The way to cut the tax burden on the low-paid is to raise the starting threshold. And that is before tax incidence is taken into account, because the initial...

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