Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

More quantitative easing

Written on 10 February 2012. Posted in Banking.

Martin Rowson’s cartoon in the Guardian says nearly all there to be said on the latest round of quantitive easing But not quite all. From our perspective, it is proof of the intellectual bankruptcy of the economic policies and theories followed by the Conservative government, the Labour government before it, and the economists and bankers who advise them. What is, however, hard to understand...

Lukewarm support from where we would most expect it

Written on 4 February 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The strange case of Tax Justice Network Most advocates of Land Value Taxation have arrived at their conclusion because, amongst other things, they regard the present tax system as unjust. We would expect that an organisation going by the name “Tax Justice Network” (TJN) would be actively campaigning in the same direction as ourselves.

Global jobs crisis

Written on 28 January 2012. Posted in Economics.

The International Labor Organization has published its Global employment trends 2012: preventing a deeper jobs crisis. It tells us that, “The world faces a challenge of creating 600 million jobs over the next decade.” When the phrase “job creation” is mentioned, read no further. Who in their right mind would create a job for themselves? The purpose of work is to satisfy our...

Mansion tax raises its stupid head again

Written on 23 January 2012. Posted in Taxation.

We had thought that the Liberal Democrats’ proposal for a “mansion tax” had died but seemingly it has not. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, is pushing for a mansion tax to be introduced on properties worth more than £2million in this year’s Budget. This would apparently be on top of the Council Tax. Critics claim that poor widows would be driven from...

There are even bigger causes than LVT

Written on 20 January 2012. Posted in General.

Yesterday, we blacked-out the LVTC web site in part of the world-wide action in support of freedom of the web, which is threatened by proposals for legislation in the USA. These restrictions are being put forward by the big commercial outfits in the mass entertainment and communications industry, anxious to maintain their profits. But knowledge, like land, is the property of the entire human race...

Open letter to Caroline Lucas, my Green MP

Written on 17 January 2012. Posted in Politics.

Dear Caroline Lucas, I was disturbed to see that Richard Murphy mentioned your name in connection with his economic proposals for growth, which he outlined in an article in the Guardian yesterday.

Scottish independence asserts itself

Written on 12 January 2012. Posted in Taxation.

The Campaign as such cannot have a view on the subject of Scottish independence. However, Scotland, like many parts of the rest of the UK, is far from the main centres of population and suffers as a consequence from geographical disadvantage and the associated higher production costs. Businesses have the disadvantage of higher transport and other energy costs. These disadvantages are reflected in...

Winners and losers from high speed rail

Written on 11 January 2012. Posted in Public Transport.

An article in the Daily Telegraph explains that High Speed Rail (HS2) will create winners as well as losers among homeowners and homebuyers because, even though only 1.2 miles of the line will be above ground in the Chilterns, it will affect local house prices for good or ill. David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, owners of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains said: “For many ...

Fur coat and no knickers

Written on 10 January 2012. Posted in Public Transport.

The government has now given the go-ahead to HS2 – £16 billion the high speed railway between London and Birmingham that will shave 20 minutes off the journey in 2026. For a further £16 billion, it is intended that it will reach Manchester in the 2030s. This is a shocking demonstration of the inability of Britain’s decision makers to join up their thinking. Having decided to invest this...

Public services have to be paid for somehow

Written on 9 January 2012. Posted in General.

I was having a conversation recently with a neighbour who runs a small business and employs a couple of staff. I pointed out that she, as employer, actually pays the taxes, because the employees would be happy to work for whatever their take-home pay happens to be. I explained that for every £1 a worker receives in take-home pay, the employer has to pay over 80p to the government. And that has...

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