Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

Taxation, growth and employment

Written on 9 July 2010. Posted in Taxation.

“Taxation, Growth and Employment” is the title of a pamphlet produced by the right wing (we hesitate to use the term) think tank “Policy Exchange”, which describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan educational charity. We work with academics and policy makers from across the political spectrum. We are particularly interested in free market and localist solutions...

UK Electoral Reform

Written on 6 July 2010. Posted in Politics.

We do not have a view on what electoral system the UK should adopt but the way the issue is being handled is telling. It is becoming apparent that there are several alternative PR systems, each with advantages and disadvantages. In the circumstances, there is a good case for the election to be a two-stage process so that people have the opportunity to choose between the different options. Instead,...

Cui Bono?

Written on 3 July 2010. Posted in Public Transport.

These car ferries are free. They must cost a fortune to run. To whose benefit? Answer must be not more than one word long. Fortunately some of the value is captured by LVT but not as much as might be. The trouble is that other taxes are so high that they cut heavily into land values. The amount that can be usefully be raised is much less than would otherwise be the case. Still, you don’t...

The flaw in the Libertarian position

Written on 3 July 2010. Posted in Marxism.

In a discussion set up by a Marxist apologist, a neo-Libertarian asked, ‘How is robbing Peter to pay Paul just because Paul is paid a pittance for the useless rubber ducks he make, considered “justice”? ‘ To answer this one, it is necessary to examine the assumptions behind this question.

The flaw in the Marxist position

Written on 3 July 2010. Posted in Marxism.

It is necessary only to read or read about Marx to the point that one realises that he fails even to define his terms with adequate precision or to map them to the economic process. Having identified what is wrong with his fundamental assumptions, it really is not worth wading through hundreds of pages of his turgid text.

A hymn for Tax Freedom Sunday

Written on 2 July 2010. Posted in Religion.

It has come to our notice that at many church services this Sunday, July 4th, a special hymn will be sung to celebrate Tax Freedom Day on July 8th. It is estimated that this year, the 187 days between January 1st and July 8th are needed for each and every one of us to pay both our tax and our contribution to the government’s budget deficit. The Department of Work and Prayer has released a...

Catholic church property empire scandal

Written on 30 June 2010. Posted in Religion.

As a Catholic coming from a country where the Catholic church leads a hand-to-mouth existence, it came as a slight suprise to me to read here that the Italian Catholic church has been involved in a scandal involving the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the Vatican congregation that uses proceeds from a property empire including 2,000 Rome apartments to fund missionary efforts. It...

Massive reserves of LRV discovered in the UK

Written on 30 June 2010. Posted in Taxation.

Following her acclaimed analysis of the Emergency Budget, Dodgy Dossier’s resident economist Charlotte-Anne Schreiber was yesterday invited to a Press Conference at which it was announced that a source of public revenue far greater than that contributed by the North Sea oil and gas finds had been discovered. What is more, it is environmentally friendly and can be easily collected. “The...

G20 and its Keynesian critics

Written on 29 June 2010. Posted in Economics.

The G20 consensus that public spending should be reigned in has been criticised by, among others, Paul Krugman, who are resurrecting the ideas put forward by Keynes. What are we to make of this?

George grasps the nettle but we will all bear the pain

Written on 22 June 2010. Posted in Taxation.

Our resident economist, Charlotte-Anne Schreiber, was in the press gallery of the House of Commons to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, deliver his Emergency Budget speech. Reactions among fellow journalists were mixed, but we are pleased to publish her, as usual, penetrating analysis. Please feel free to circulate her report among your colleagues. The boy wonder surprised everyone...

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