The product of a long reflection on the subject, we put forward for discussion this radical proposal for local government reform.

A document marked ‘Top Secret’ was found on a train yesterday. It appears to be the draft of a speech that is intended to be given by the next Chancellor. We publish it here so that the author can contact us and have it returned. It is encouraging to see that whoever wrote it clearly understands the problems facing the next Government. But is the solution tax or cuts? There is no doubt...

Glasgow City Council set up a Local Taxation Working Group which has seriously considered site value taxation. Its overall findings are in this report published last year. Our analyst David Mills has written a  detailed critique. The latter needs to be read with reference to the original report.

There are some who argue for taxes on what is called the unearned increment in land. Even some who wish to capture the whole site rent, have been heard to make appreciative murmurs when increment is mentioned. This is a mistake. It is surely not necessary to repeat here the ethical argument, and the argument in economic theory, for collecting all of the Rent of Land and therefore against taxing...

When government and the Treasury have no understanding of the role of land in the economy, not only do they impose policies that will have the opposite effect to that intended; they will also fail to see opportunities for simple interventions that would have wide-reaching benefits. We do not expect a British Chancellor to introduce anything like the tax reforms the Campaign is advocating, but with...

On the day of the 2010 Budget, we are pleased to introduce our new expert commentator, leading economist Charlotte-Anne Schreiber. She was delighted to be invited to the press box in the House of Commons to hear the budget speech. Although she found it confusing and contradictory, a promise right at the end of the 90-minute dissertation gave her hope that at long last a Chancellor had realised where...

Three of the measures in the 2010 Budget today prove conclusively that neither the Chancellor nor, probably, those who advise him, have the foggiest idea what they are doing. He announced that empty properties with a rateable value of less than £18,000 will be exempt from paying business rates in 2010/11. business rates will be cut from October 2010 in a bid to help small businesses through the...

Our team of newshounds stalk the corridors, comb the columns and earwig the airways to bring you the latest news, comment and criticism. It is a closely guarded secret that immediately before the Chancellor leaves 11 Downing Street for the traditional photo shoot with the red box, the House of Commons chaplain holds a short service in an upper room. Disguised as a window cleaner, our sleuth was...

Our team of newshounds stalk the corridors, comb the columns and earwig the airways to bring you the latest news, comment and criticism. Our reporter was able to pose as an illegal immigrant and work as a cleaner at the Treasury with after-hours access to the private office of the Chancellor. In the wastepaper basket several screwed up piece of paper revealed a handwritten draft of a speech that...

It has been suggested that the house price (land price) bubble could have been prevented by a Capital Gains Tax. There is also a feeling that capital gains, on, for instance, share transactions, should be taxed as they are an unearned profit. So shouldn’t we be supporting them?