Current affairs - Land Value Tax Campaign

Protectionism debunked

Written on 5 July 2016. Posted in Economics.

I came across this today in a newspaper discussion group. “You misunderstand (bet that’s not the first time someone has said that to you!) the tariffs you refer to protect the jobs of EU workers” I responded as follows. “Yes I am well aware that is the aim but it has the opposite effect in the long run. It is one reason why unemployment is so high across the EU. It has not...

A Georgist EU?

Written on 2 July 2016. Posted in Politics.

What if the EU had been constructed on Georgist principles, with the following conditions for membership?

Experts are sometimes worth listening to

Written on 29 June 2016. Posted in Economics.

“Macroeconomics is in a state of great confusion. The profession is deeply divided. Far from there being a body of knowledge which is generally accepted, almost every position is extremely contentious. Public discussion of economics has no coherent rationale, and governments, notwithstanding their emphatic rhetoric, cannot give a credible explanation of how it is that their policies fail...

Eurofail #1 – VAT

Written on 28 June 2016. Posted in Politics.

The EU began as a noble concept. Unfortunately, it has consistently got the economics wrong, thereby sowing the seeds of its ultimate disintegration. The EU gave us VAT, CAP, a tariff wall and expensive food. It would be difficult to conceive of a worse combination, apart from capping them with a common currency. Bearing in mind that all taxes apart from LVT amplify the effects of locational disadvantage,...

Brexit Dividend

Written on 25 June 2016. Posted in Politics.

The theory of economics from which we work is founded on a geographical model. We are particularly interested in margins, because that is where people are forced to make critical decisions, above all, whether or not to engage in economic activity. It is at the margin that existing tax systems and other economic burdens have most effect. Locations that could support economic activity in the absence...

What is government for?

Written on 24 June 2016. Posted in Politics.

In the aftermath of the referendum, it does no harm to take a step back from the present febrile mood. Conveniently, there was this piece asking “What are governments for? I came across this about forty years ago.

What our view on Brexit was

Written on 26 May 2016. Posted in Taxation.

These factors were obviously not uppermost in the minds of most of those who voted “leave”, but before the referendum we pointed out that EU has in practice applied policies which are entirely against the principles we are promoting.

More missing the point

Written on 13 April 2016. Posted in Banking.

There is a lot of point-missing going on this morning. Is there something in the air? This article talks about the fact that cheap money has driven up house prices, but the author fails to understand that if interest rates were raised, housing would still be just as unaffordable. Prices would drop but monthly repayments would stay the same as it is these that fix the price levels. The primary value...

Willfully missing the point

Written on 13 April 2016. Posted in Taxation.

Today’s Guardian hand-wringing session on the “Panama Papers” includes this piece, called, “Panama Papers: 10 ways for the UK to get its house in order”. One of the ten is the following. “Root corrupt money out of the UK property market and reveal the true holders of the keys to UK homes.” The files include the details of 2,800 secret companies, or “vehicles”,...

Piketty still hasn’t a clue

Written on 10 April 2016. Posted in Economics.

Piketty still hasn’t a clue. His comments in today’s Observer, calling for international action, demonstrate the point. The Observer itself is worse, with a call for United Nations action in a piece headed, “The Observer view on how to clean up a squalid world financial mess“. Both pieces appear in the Observer/Guardian’s section laughably called “Comment is free”,...

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