Current affairs - Land Value Tax Campaign

We are opposed to wealth taxes

Written on 8 October 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Thomas Picketty, in his new book “Capital in the 21st century”, has stimulated public discussion on the need for an international wealth tax to remedy growing inequality. He could not be more mistaken. Although so-called wealth taxes are in operation abroad, the proposal is unworkable since it fails at the first hurdle – that of definition. What is wealth? Does it include pictures...

The Fair Tax – an Irish perspective

Written on 23 August 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The economic mess that Ireland has got itself into is, as is well-known, a consequence of the credit-fuelled property boom. It was further boosted by infrastructure development funded by the EU, which would have been beneficial if only there had there been an effective land value capture mechanism is place. Instead, the Irish government abolished residential property taxes, thereby pumping up the...

Is the cycle turning?

Written on 20 August 2012. Posted in Economics.

This article here discusses the US housing market and suggests that the upswing is just beginning there. Meanwhile, in the UK, housebuilding firm Bovis has doubled its interim dividend as profits jump and reports that it has taken advantage of the depressed land prices since 2008 to embark on an agressive round of land purchase. This seems to be all in accordance with the theory from which land...

Unthinking concern

Written on 18 August 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Concern about economic injustice needs to be tempered with a sound understanding of the causes. If it is not, you get proposals for nonsensical ideas such as global wealth taxes, currently the subject of a petition under the umbrella of change.org. How would a global wealth tax work? Who would get the revenue? How would wealth even be defined? Would it include, for example, jewellery in bedside...

Property boosts UK net worth to £6.8 trillion

Written on 17 August 2012. Posted in Economics.

Britain’s property market has boosted the nation’s wealth to £6.8 trillion, despite a global financial crisis which has weighed heavily on the UK economy. Net worth rose 3.3pc in 2011 according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, with property now worth more than £4 trillion. Read the article in the Daily Telegraph. It is complete nonsense of course but illustrates the...

Back to business – and LVT good for landowners

Written on 13 August 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Not quite. But the Olympics and the holiday season have squeezed out most news about politics and economics. The troubles with the Euro continue to bubble away in the background, with periodic announcements that it has been “saved”. These have led to short bursts of confidence until the markets have, on reflection, realised that the problems remain unresolved. And so they will. The Euro...

What is the big deal with LVT?

Written on 4 August 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The UK already has LVT now, in the form of Council Tax and the UBR. We are simply arguing that, to start with, the present system, which is messy and inefficient, needs to be tidied up. Why does everyone make such heavy weather of this, including LVT supporters?

Higher stamp duty puts damper on luxury market

Written on 4 August 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Sales of luxury homes in London have dropped following the stamp duty changes in March. The expected increases in revenue are not materialising. Sales of homes worth more than £2m – the threshold at which the levy rises from 5 to 7 per cent – are down by 24 per cent in the four months since the budget. Sales which would have been at £2m and a bit have now been renegotiated to a bit under,...

Vested interests and economics theory

Written on 31 July 2012. Posted in Banking.

The views expressed on this web site are almost never voiced by mainstream economists, politicians and journalists, even those who purport to be radical. Were they to do so they would be quickly silenced. One result is that there is no effective challenge to the Neoliberal project, now in full flood in Britain and the US. This lack of effectiveness manifests both as a failure to argue against neoliberalism...

Land Value Tax Bill by Caroline Lucas: debate rescheduled to 26 April

Written on 30 July 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The Private Member’s Bill tabled by Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion was due to have been debated on 1 March but for some reason was not. It is now scheduled for debate on Friday 26 April. The wording of the Bill is to “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...

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