Comment - Land Value Tax Campaign

An essential book for a confused time

Written on 5 January 2017. Posted in Taxation.

PROTECTION OR FREE TRADE? was written by Henry George in 1886. It is still in print and readily available. It rebuts most of the arguments being put forward by both camps in the Brexit debate, as well as the protectionist sentiments that seem to be at large in the USA following the election of Donald Trump. It has become essential reading, for it provides a guide to the morass of debate that has...

The staff-cutting imperative

Written on 19 December 2016. Posted in Public Transport.

The current disruptions on the railways, the cost of care for the elderly and a host of other issues affecting labour-intensive services can all be traced to a single cause: that the principal sources of public revenue should come from the taxation of labour, goods and services rather than the taxation of the rental value of land, which is what we have consistently advocated.

Arran farm evictions

Written on 30 November 2016. Posted in General.

There has been a wave of evictions of farmers on the Isle of Arran, following a ruling by the Supreme Court, that tenants’ rights granted under Scottish legislation in 2003 contravene the landowners’ rights under the European Convention of Human Rights. The case is complicated. In short, however, the ruling appears to contradict the principle that ownership of a land title is not the...

Fee trade area

Written on 13 October 2016. Posted in Taxation.

The Single Market is described as a free trade area. In reality, is very expensive. It means that if you want to trade with me, even if we are next-door neighbours, we can only do so legally over a 20% high tariff wall between us – Value Added Tax. In some EU countries, the internal tariff wall is even higher – 25% in Sweden. That is not much of a free trade area. Fee trade area, more...

The symbiosis of Marxism and Neoliberalism

Written on 20 August 2016. Posted in Politics.

The current problems with social democratic parties world-wide stems ultimately from an ideological failure. Insofar as contemporary socialism has any ideology at all, it is Marxist. There is a fundamental flaw with Marx which is these days not widely known and understood. He conflates land and capital. They are separate entities.

Geography matters

Written on 18 August 2016. Posted in Economics.

The importance of geography – review of a book by Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography. The separation of economics and geography as academic discplines is one of the reasons why economic problems seem so intractable. Geography goes a long way to explaining phenomena such as regional economic imbalance and the Brexit vote. This book sounds as if it is worth looking at.

The Grosvenor Estate

Written on 13 August 2016. Posted in Taxation.

The death of the Duke of Westminster has drawn attention to the fact that the estate is not liable for inheritance tax as it is vested in a trust. This has led to indignant comments and charges of tax avoidance. The Grosvenor Estate is one of several owned by aristocratic families, which together encompass a large area of Central London. The pattern of land ownership in Central London has hardly...

What should the Chancellor do today?

Written on 5 August 2016. Posted in Taxation.

The immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote was always going to be a period of disruption. The smart response would be to take advantage of the freedom available outside the strait-jacket of EU regulations. There are a couple of immediate boosts the Chancellor could give to the UK economy. Reduce VAT on building works to zero for an initial period of two years. Reduce VAT on restaurants and hotels...

Protection racketeering

Written on 2 August 2016. Posted in Economics.

I have just been engaged in a correspondence in the FT. I argued that Brexit needs to begin by getting ourselves outside a tariff wall. I was challenged with this comment “The EU’s tariff wall is what is protecting us. Countries like the US can decimate the British wheat farmers. Japan can decimate the UK car industries (by switching the production back to Japan from the UK) and the...

The Canons of Taxation according to Adam Smith

Written on 24 July 2016. Posted in History.

Adam Smith’s Canons of Taxation are not easily found on the internet in their raw form; they are usually someone or other’s interpretation. So, for reference, here they are in their original form, as made available by the Library of Economics and Liberty.

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