THE GEORGIST NEWS

News from around the world - from Korea to Nicaragua and several points in between - has poured in to give impetus to intrepid Georgists. This periodical has been joined by others, new ones from seminal thinkers. And for those who enjoy working in the group setting, several interesting conferences are on the horizon. As always, we invite you to send us your news and views to share with others.

The deadline for our June 2006 issue is May 25.

You can always reach the Georgist News at gn@progress.org.

CONTENTS: (to return here just click the headline)

  *  NEWS FLASH: CGO Conference Info.
  1. Connecticut land tax bill
  2. UK Call for LVT
  3. News from Korea
  4. News from el Instituto Henry George
  5. Friend of LVT wins office
  6. Dollars & Sense article replayed
  7. Conservatives push oil dividends
  8. Online Discussions
  9. Call for papers
10. An occasional column
11. Welcome to Jeffery J. Smith
12. Spring Geonomist out
13. Schumacher seminar
14. Congress for the New Urbanism
15. Peak Oil Conference
16. Correction
17. Letter to Editor
18. Next Month's Georgist News
19. AT THE MARGIN: Quips and Quotes
20. About The Georgist News

* NEWS FLASH
CGO Conference Information Now Available

You can find out all about the upcoming Council of Georgist Organizations conference in Chicago, Illinois, July 19-23, 2006. Full conference information is now available at the CGO website, www.progress.org/cgo/

You can also register online for the conference. Please note that conference fees increase on June 15, so do not delay!

Prefer to hold a conference brochure in your own hands? No problem, simply contact Sue Walton at sns@swwalton.com or telephone 888-262-9015 to request your own copy.

1. Connecticut land tax bill

In Connecticut, House Bill 5038 would empower the state's decaying cities to shift their property tax off buildings, where the levy breeds slums, onto land, which would spur speculators into rational developers. The Joint Planning and Development Committee favored the bill 16-0 with two abstentions, better than last year, sending it out on both floors of the Legislature. Legislative Services staff, led by John Rappa, articulated the fiscal notes and bill analysis. Against paying site rent are the Connecticut Business and Industrial Association, perhaps the Realtors, and the state's Planners, who elsewhere support public recovery of site values, since it motivates owners to use land more efficiently. Supporting the bill are the state's municipalities and their Home Builders Association.

2. UK Call for LVT

The UK National Federation of Housing Associations said that landowners who hold back the supply of vacant land in order to make more profit in the future could be making the whole system socially and economically unsustainable. The Federation called on the government to introduce a land value tax to force developers to release land for affordable housing. See Inside Housing, Apr 7: tinyurl.com/frylz

3. News from Korea

The Henry George Association of Korea seeks to expand by delivering various training courses and by drawing attention to associations between biblical land laws and LVT. The Citizens' Union for Land Justice (CULJ) continues to propagate LVT by providing writings and commentaries to newspapers and journals regarding related governmental policies or social phenomena; by opening policy forums; and by participating in related debates on TV and radio. Although I can't claim that the following outcomes were the result of our efforts, Korean Georgists could see a few changes:

First, bill 8.31 which focused on reinforcing property tax - though not the two-rate tax - passed the National Assembly at the end of last year, and the government brought forward other measures regarding collecting gains from redevelopment at the end of March.

And more recently, various policies about LVT and public land-lease, which CULJ developed, are appealing to politicians, which is inspiring. For instance, an assemblyman from the opposition party favored a measure to provide apartments by leasing land publicly and selling the buildings, as his main policy point during his candidacy for the Mayor of Seoul. An assemblyman from the ruling party, one of the presidential candidates, mentioned that the revision of the constitution with a market-friendly public concept of land ownership could be considered.

4. News from el Instituto Henry George

Below are the headlines of recently uploaded news stories on the IHG Mga website at http://www.ibw.com.ni/~ihg. Enter and click on the "NEWS and Photos" link to get to the "IHG News as of April 2006" page and the following stories, which include informative news, updated statistics of our popular CE course, and some interesting accompanying photos:
• 30th CE (Comprender la Economía) Economics Courses Graduates Strong
• Ongoing Strikes in Key Services a Sign of Nica "Progress"
• IHG to Seek Official NGO Status in Nicaragua

Enjoy!

5. Friend of LVT wins office

Mike A. Bozarth, State Chair of the Missouri Democratic Freedom Caucus, has been elected to the city council of St. Joseph, MO. Mike first got involved in politics at the age of thirteen in 1968, and has been active and involved ever since. It is possible that as a newly elected City Councilman, active in a local Democratic Club, as well as the DFC, he might be able to win a Delegate or Alternate slot to the presidential convention. Presently LVT is not on his agenda, as his town feels it has enough revenue, well enough raised. But that could change.

6. Dollars & Sense article replayed

The Dollars & Sense article by Mason Gaffney on repopulating New Orleans by using geonomic lessons from San Francisco of a century ago, was republished at the website, Economic Principles. Along with D&S and Mase's own site, you now have three handsome places to visit to read the amazing story. Here is one: www.masongaffney.org

7. Conservatives push oil dividends

Ariel Cohen, at the conservative Heritage Foundation, as well as Nancy Birdsall in Foreign Affairs vol.83, no.4, advanced an oil dividend for the Iraqi people, similar to what Alaska pays its residents. Reinforcing the understanding that one value of nature can be recovered and shared - the value of oil - makes it easier to establish that another value of nature - that of land - should likewise be taxed or otherwise recovered and used for public betterment.

8. Online Discussions

On Wednesday, May 3 at 2 p.m. ET, Local Initiatives Support Corp. and its partners will present the last of three online discussions exploring transit-oriented development. Smart Growth America and Reconnecting America are co-sponsoring the series. The final session will highlight lessons learned from TOD projects in suburban communities, small towns, and core cities. The discussion will feature Len Brandrup, director of the Kenosha, Wis., Department of Transportation; Gretchen Nicholls, executive director of the Center for Neighborhoods in Minneapolis; and Chris Zimmerman, chairman, Arlington County, Va., Board. The speakers will cover practical strategies for - and features of - successful transit-oriented developments.

For more details about the discussion and how to participate, click on www.lisc.org/content/calendar/detail/1294/.

9. Call for papers

Call for papers on Influence of Henry George on Economic Theory, History of Economics Society. See www.georgiststudies.org/Henry_George_call_for_papers_revised_.pdf
June 23-26, 2006, Grinnell, IA, USA

The Association for Georgist Studies (HQ: Bard College) is an organization of scholars and other writers in the social sciences, and was founded in 2005. We seek to advance knowledge of the ideas expounded by Henry George and others of like mind. George attributed the persistence of poverty in the midst of economic growth to concentrated ownership, misallocation, and overpricing of land, broadly defined. He attributed depressions to overpricing carried to extremes during land booms. As a remedy he advocated shifting all taxes from labor and capital onto land.

Our mission:

Identify scholars who study these and related issues raised by George.

Engage these scholars in creating a modern literature on the issues.

Facilitate communication and collaboration among them.

Identify and address flaws and omissions in George's work.

Link the Georgist viewpoint to current concerns about tax reform, social justice, wealth and income inequality, oil monopoly, broadcast monopoly, world trade, the environment, resource scarcity, immigration, outsourcing, major cycles and bubbles like the current land boom, renewing cities and industries, containing and reversing urban sprawl, promoting domestic saving and investing, declining real wage rates and job opportunities, the feared decline of western civilization, and
Engage opinion-leaders in academic and professional disciplines, journalism and social reform movements in exploring the Georgist insight into their issues.

We seek to explore a common set of problems from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

We will do the following:

Organize panels at professional meetings.

Organize conferences with publication of proceedings.

Publish current articles on our website.

And create an online database of articles or links to relevant earlier publications.

10. An occasional column

David Ellerman's new book, "Helping People Help Themselves: From the World Bank to an Alternative Philosophy of Development Assistance," (Forward by Albert O. Hirschman) is finally out in affordable paperback. Yay!
"The best kind of help to others, whenever possible, is indirect, and consists in such modifications of the conditions of life, of the general level of subsistence, as enables them independently to help themselves."

Ellerman begins with this quote from John Dewey. A former economist at the World Bank himself, and assistant to Joseph Stiglitz, he nonetheless devotes most of his book not to the bank, but to the theory of helping. Both names are recognizable to Georgists.

Polly's column continues with more highly readable articles; such as, "Gangsta-nomics at Harvard," and her insightful commentary.

11. Welcome to Jeffery J. Smith

You might recall that last month we had Jeff Smith as Georgist News guest editor. Now we are pleased to announce a more permanent arrangement: the Georgist News welcomes Jeffery J. Smith as our regular editor, starting with the June issue.

12. Spring Geonomist out

The latest Geonomist quarterly is now available for free reading by non-subscribers and anyone who would like to see the big picture. Articles cite progress in France on recovering site rents, some startling statistics on the billions of dollars of royalties never collected, the current phase in the land price cycle, recognized thinkers endorsing some aspect of geonomics, new books with valuable information, and much more. To see it, visit www.geonomics.org.

To read the Geonomist in its entirety, with a relevant cartoon on each of its sixteen pages, contact this editor at jjs@geonomics.org.
Note that some of the hard copies have a typo in the address. The correct address is 7536 SE Milwaukee Ave, Portland, OR, 97202. Phone 503-232-1337

13. Schumacher seminar

The E.F. Schumacher Society cordially invites you to a seminar entitled "Building Sustainable Local Economies" with Erbin Crowell, Eric Harris-Braun, Elizabeth Keen, Chris Lindstrom, Stephanie Mills, Alex Thorp, Chuck Turner, Greg Watson, Susan Witt, and other guest speakers, May 24 to 28, 2006, at the E.F. Schumacher Library and Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. How can regional communities regain the power to revitalize the means of production for basic necessities (food, energy, shelter, clothing) in the face of a deepening economic, social, and ecological crisis?

Learn about successful, citizen-driven models for community revitalization and how to take action in applying them to your own community.

How do we work together as individuals and a community to:

1. Create non-profit community development financing systems such as local currencies?
2. Become social entrepreneurs devising community and worker-owned businesses?
3. Provide affordable access to land for farming and housing?
4. Build strong regionally based and democratic economies?

Space is limited to twenty-five participants! Seminar cost of $500 includes tuition, materials, and seven meals. Housing is available at Simon's Rock College for $300 (single room with shared bath, includes breakfast). To register please return the registration form, available online. Or call 413-528-1737 or email efssociety@smallisbeautiful.org

14. Congress for the New Urbanism

The Congress for the New Urbanism will hold its 14th annual conference, "Developing the New Urbanism," June 1-4 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. For the first time, the Congress will shift its focus from those who plan and design development to those who implement development. The keynote address will be delivered by Christopher Alexander, a well-known author, architect, and urbanist, who will propose a new development process. Other plenary speakers will include Leon Krier, the pioneer of traditional urbanism, who will lecture on the backlash against New Urbanism in the United States and Europe; town planner Andres Duany, who will discuss development issues following Hurricane Katrina; and Marilyn Jordan Taylor, chair of the Urban Land Institute, who will focus on opportunities for collaboration between the Congress and the Institute.

Other conference sessions will cover such topics as selling new urbanism, partnering with government, infill developers, developing housing for people at all income levels, and mixed-use development. Registrations received by May 4 qualify for the early registration fee.
www.cnu.org/news/index.cfm?formaction=congresses
&CFID=12274008&CFTOKEN=10423763

15. Peak Oil Conference

A three-day conference will be held in Washington D.C., USA, May 7-9 to address the implications of two overlapping crises: the coming peak in worldwide oil production and the continuing disruption of ecosystems due to global climate change.

At "Peak Oil and the Environment" over twenty leading sustainability thinkers, including scientists and policymakers, will explore the challenges of oil production peaking, its implications for the economy, climate, geopolitical stability and human well-being; and possible adaptations, including alternative energy sources and reducing energy use.

16. Correction

Thanks for mentioning my article and giving the web address, but the collection of essays is not connected in any way to the Thomas Paine Network. Instead, the collection of essays will be published by a humanist philosophy organization. See www.wash.org/greenbook/gb_6_1.html.

By the way, I especially liked the news item from the Guardian about landbanking and restrictive covenants - a good example of an anti-competitive effect described by Mason Gaffney in Tideman's book, "Land and Taxation."

17. Letter to Editor

Good on you for the Georgist News edition for April 2006 which was barnyard fresh to my eyes. That is, you managed to entice me to prod around into more corners than usual. If you wish it, here is my letter (excerpted) to the Gauteng, previously the Transvaal, Premier in South Africa.
Mr. Mbhazima Shilowa
Premier of Gauteng Province

Dear Mr. Premier,

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING by VALUE-CAPTURE METHODS

Our proposal explained how it is possible to prevent a handful of private landowners from extracting massive unearned rents from the Gautrain project. International case studies support our belief that if the Gautrain generates the same multiple of profits as the Jubilee Line owners received in London, then some R80 billion stands to be pocketed by the precinct owners without any effort on their part. This will be because of the profits which the R20-billion public investment will make for property owners. This would clearly be an untenable situation, as its effect will be to deprive people in the rest of South Africa - who, as taxpayers, will have paid for the train - of its benefits and rewards. That situation can be avoided if Gauteng decides to capture these profits before they reach the pockets of the effected landowners.

18. Next Month's Georgist News

Please keep sending your reports, comments, and other interesting material to jjs@geonomics.org. And of course you may continue to reach the Georgist News at gn@progress.org.

19. AT THE MARGIN: Quips and Quotes

"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again - and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore."
- Mark Twain

"The essence of all slavery consists in taking the produce of another's labor by force. It is immaterial whether this force be founded on ownership of the slave or ownership of the money that he must get to live on."
- Leo Tolstoy (1891)

20. About The Georgist News

gn@progress.org

The Georgist News on the WWW - http://www.georgist.com/