Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

Was Cardinal Manning a Georgist?

Written on 22 May 2012. Posted in Religion.

(1808-1892) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death, and was created Cardinal in 1875. He is best known outside church circles for his intervention and mediation in the 1888 dockers’ strike. Now here is a mystery.

£27,000 premium to live near a tube station

Written on 12 May 2012. Posted in Public Transport.

London homebuyers pay a significant premium to live close to a tube or train station. More land value created by the community and ending up in private pockets.New report by Nationwide.

The Great Growth Hunt is on

Written on 9 May 2012. Posted in General.

IS THERE GOLD IN THEM THERE MOUNTAINS OF DEBT? Immediately following the Queen’s speech our two intrepid heroes set off on their quest to find growth – the vital ingredient necessary for a successful and prosperous economy. Growth, it is said, is the missing link between bankruptcy and prosperity. It had not been seen or heard of for ten years or so, and the people’s patience...

Pots and kettles

Written on 6 May 2012. Posted in Banking.

In today’s Observer, in an article under the title “Mervyn King didn’t grasp the crisis then – and he does’nt now”, Will Hutton refers to Mervyn King’s admission and asserts that “Sir Mervyn cannot bring himself to declare that the Bank was party to the gigantic intellectual mistake that led to the crisis.” However, Will Hutton, too is a party...

Bank of England deputy advocates monetary recklessness

Written on 5 May 2012. Posted in Banking.

“A highly stimulatory monetary stance was needed to sustain demand”, writes Charles Bean, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, in an article in the FT. The purpose of money is (1) to facilitate the exchange of goods and services and (2) to enable people to retain their claims on wealth over a period of time – to provide “a store of value”. Money can be used as...

LibDem LVT support group loses its way

Written on 5 May 2012. Posted in Politics.

It is depressing how some of our own supporters can lose their way. ALTER, the LibDem group, seems to have suffered this fate with the publication of a Position Paper giving support to the idea of Community Land Auctions (CLA), a brainchild of Tim Leunig, a member of the staff at the London School of Economics. The idea, which is less than straightforward, is explained in the ALTER position paper....

Swedish tax authorities target market traders

Written on 4 May 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Sweden has a surprising number of market traders. These make life difficult for the tax authorities trying to collect value added tax (MOMS), and they are now proposing that all market traders should get themselves a proper approved cash register and issue receipts to customers. The difficulty is that, first, approved cash registers are expensive, second, they need an electricity supply, and third,...

Swedish socialists still in the stone age

Written on 4 May 2012. Posted in Taxation.

Since 2006, the Swedish government has been composed of an alliance of centre and conservative parties. These have implemented a variety of tweaks to the tax system. Some of them, such as a cut in the property tax, have been counter-productive, whilst others have been mildly beneficial. These include concessions for self-employed building workers, a cut in value added tax on restaurant meals, and...

Ricardo’s Law simply explained

Written on 1 May 2012. Posted in Tax Justice Network.

Some well-known commentators, including Richard Murphy of Tax Research, firmly deny the reality of Ricardo’s Law of Rent. This makes it difficult to engage in coherent discussion. Ricardo’s Law is not contested territory within economics. It is just ignored. However, you can verify it for yourself by considering a simple model – busking on the London Underground.

Catholic bishop should mind what he says

Written on 29 April 2012. Posted in Religion.

Scotland’s most senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, has accused the prime minister of acting immorally by favouring the rich ahead of ordinary citizens affected by the recession.The Cardinal also denounced David Cameron’s opposition to a “Robin Hood tax” on financial institutions. I do not have a problem with the first sentence. But when a Catholic bishop...

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