Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

Setting itself up for failure – the VOX Global Crisis Debate

Written on 30 January 2009. Posted in Economics.

VoxEU.org, a policy portal set up by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, in conjunction with a consortium of national sites, today launches the Global Crisis Debate. The aim is “to broaden the discussion into a truly global debate, and to make the Global Crisis Debate the dominant intellectual forum on the crisis.” “The ambition is to broaden the discussion into a truly global...

Brown’s tax giveaway will cost jobs and retard growth

Written on 30 January 2009. Posted in Taxation.

Higher national insurance payments and other taxes will cost the economy 175,000 jobs over the next four years, according to Oxford Economics, an independent consultancy. Mr Brown has set out plans to increase taxes after the next election to fund a temporary “fiscal stimulus” package including a time-limited cut in VAT and bringing forward some spending plans. The package will add...

Boris Johnson friend of business?

Written on 27 January 2009. Posted in Taxation.

We read in a report from the British Property Federation that Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today assured the property industry that he is “a friend to business” by putting his weight behind the fight against empty rates and offering support for new methods of funding.

Heathrow to get third runway

Written on 15 January 2009. Posted in Economics.

The Campaign has – can have – no view on the rights or wrongs of the decision to build a third runway at Heathrow. But we have an interest nevertheless, as it is bound to affect land values in the immediate vicinity and indeed throughout south-east England. This will come about as a result of:-

Thomas Spence, an ideological forerunner of the Georgists

Written on 15 January 2009. Posted in History.

The idea of land value taxation did not begin with Henry George. Others have stumbled across the idea largely as a result of their own reflections. One such as Thomas Spence (1750 – 1814). We are pleased to present this essay on Spence by guest author Edward Rhodes, who is a graduate of the University of Sussex, and currently works as a Research Administrator at the University of Brighton.

Is the market to blame?

Written on 13 January 2009. Posted in General.

It is still fashionable to blame the free market for our troubles with the economy but look again. Should we not first look at the laws under which the market functions? This letter by John Read in the Financial Times explores goes straight to the point.

The case for property rights – spot the fallacy

Written on 13 January 2009. Posted in Home-Owner-Ism.

Fallacies can still slip through clever philosophy. The gaping hole in this libertarian’s argument is that it fails to distinguish between that which is man made and that which is a gift of nature (or God).

Promoting social mobility

Written on 13 January 2009. Posted in Welfare.

Social mobility is on the British government’s agenda. It doesn’t matter what the government proposes because none of the suggested measures can do more than scratch the surface of the problem, at disproportionate cost. But to be fair to the government, neither the Conservatives nor the LibDems have any better policies.

Unsound economics theory the root of our problems

Written on 11 January 2009. Posted in Economics.

Nearly two years after the bank crisis which initiated the present phase of the economic crisis, it is evident that the experts, including the people who advise governments, have a very incomplete grasp of what is happening. Current economic theory ignores land and its role in the economy…

Somebody doesn’t like us

Written on 6 January 2009. Posted in General.

Polly Toynbee wrote an article in the Guardian today, criticising David Cameron’s proposals for tax cuts. My comments were deleted by the moderator as being off-topic. Somebody must have complained. I asked for an explanation and the comment was reinstated, but they must obviously have got under someone’s skin. Whose, I wonder? Here is the allegedly off-topic comment: All mainstream...

You are here: