Welcome to the April issue of The Georgist News and
especially to renewed subscribers such as Godfrey Dunkley of Cape
Town. Despite the date, we're not fooling you about recent
developments: governmental interest in Minnesota and Argentina,
coverage by the Home Builders and Heartland Institute, and continued
successful outreach in Britain and Nicaragua. Read the replies by
readers on issues lately raised herein. Have you, dear reader,
friends or co-workers who'd also like to subscribe? May this read
improve your Tax Day and augment your Earth Day.
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CONTENTS:
* CGO conference chooses 2008 theme
1. News: Argentinean ministry publishes book; Minnesota to fund
LVT study
2. Good Press: Times of London; Chicago's Heartland Institute,
NAHB; APM
3. Numbers: See articles published at the Progress Report
4. Movement Progress: Nicaragua's IHG; GB's HG Fdn.
5. Letters: How much rent; Blog central; Silva honored by
Dominican president
6. Obituaries: Clyde Cameron; Everett Gross
7. Likable links: ALTER uploadings; Guardian; Short course material
8. What You Can Do: Attend CGO conference; Write South Africa
9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes - HG on climate change
10. Publication affairs: Contributors, About the Georgist News
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* CGO conference chooses 2008 theme
By Sue Walton, sns at swwalton.com March 22, 2008
First, the Council of Georgist Organizations would like to announce
its new web address: we're now at www.cgocouncil.org
Also, the Council of Georgist Organizations would like to announce
the theme of its 2008 conference: The Value and Importance of Land.
The conference is not just about the USA, it's about North America.
We will have five Canadian presenters: Frank Peddle of the Canadian
Research Committee, Frank DeJong of the Green Party of Ontario, John
Fisher of the Henry George Foundation of Canada, Mike Nickerson of
Sustainability Project / 7th Generation Initiative and Gerry Shaw of
the School of Economic Science - Calgary will all be speaking. Watch
this space for a link to our conference brochure.
(See also item 8.)
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1a. News: Argentinean Ministry publishes geo-solution
By Fernando Scornik Gerstein, madrid at scornik-gerstein.com
March 05, 2008
A book containing two projects for Tax Reform for Argentina, drafted
by Fernando Scornik Gerstein, one in 1975 and the other in 2001, has
been Published in Argentina under the title "Tenencia de la Tierra
para una Sociedad mas Justa" (Land Tenancy for a Fairer Society).
The two projects are based on a tax on land values in replacement
mainly of VAT (21%to 30% in Argentina) and other indirect taxes. The
first project was published by the Argentinean Ministry of
Agricultura and Dr. Scornik Gerstein was appointed chair of a Task
Group for Tax Reform in the Ministry of Agricultura, but the
military coup in 1976 and the dictatorship of the Junta forced Dr.
Scornik to leave the country. The second project was presented in
2001 to President Duhalde in the midst of Argentinean's terrible
economic crisis. The project is still under "study". The book has a
foreword of Dr. Hector Sandler, a distinguished Georgist,
politician, and University Professor.
The book was presented at the Law School of the University of Buenos
Aires in early December 2007, before a conference room crowded with
over 120 persons, former Ministers and Secretaries of State,
Professors and former High Officials of previous Argentinean
Governments. In the presentation participated Monsenor Jorge
Casaretto, one of the most distinguish Argentinean Catholic Bishops,
the Economist Guillermo Sandler, Dr. Hector Sandler, and D. Fernando
Scornik Gerstein.
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1b. News: Sharing the benefit, sharing the cost
By Conrad Defiebre, Minnesota 2020, March 14, 2008; via Rich Nymoen
A new state initiative is aimed at making lucky owners of land near
major transportation improvements share some of their windfall
profits with the taxpayers who finance the projects.
A little-noticed provision of the transportation finance bill
enacted last month over Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto authorizes a
University of Minnesota study of "capturing the value of the
benefits created" by road and transit projects for nearby property
owners.
"The Legislature finds that large public investments in state
transportation infrastructure, such as constructing freeway
interchanges, new highways and rail transit stations, can result in
surrounding private land and other property increasing in value,
sometimes by substantial amounts," the legislation notes.
It appropriates $325,000 for the study by the university's Center
for Transportation Studies. Its final report is due July 1, 2009,
with a series of workshops for elected officials to follow.
Check out the article: www.mn2020.org/index.asp...
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2a. Good Press: Heartland's 2008 Budget & Tax News
By Sue Walton, sns at swwalton.com, March 27, 2008
The April, 2008 issue of Heartland Institute's Budget & Tax News
features an article by CGO President Ted Gwartney entitled "British
Columbia Reforms Provide School Finance, Assessment Model" as well
as a pro bono ad for our 2008 conference designed by Dan Sullivan.
The issue is not yet on line, but should be by 4/1. Our thanks to
Joe Bast, Heartland's president; Joe will be speaking at the 2008
CGO Conference on Saturday July 12th.
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2b. Good Press: Times of London, March 20, 2008
By Carol Wilcox, Labour Land Campaign, Christchurch, Dorset
Sir, It is puzzling (to me, at least) that, during this period of
intense debate about the current financial crisis, one word is never
mentioned: "land".
The unsustainable rise in house prices may be recognized as being at
the heart of the crisis. Reference is made to previous property
price bubbles, particularly that which has so afflicted the Japanese
economy. But where is the debate about the land market which
underpins property values?
Land is not just any old asset. The price of gold or dot-com shares
do not have any profound effect on workers or businesses, but land
is part of the real economy and its price impacts on every one of us
as owners and users. If the land market worked efficiently no one
would own more land than they could use, there would be no waste -
there could not be, given that land is a finite resource.
A very simple, permanent solution to land price bubbles is annual
land value taxation. This collects as public revenue publicly
created land values. This would remove any incentive for
speculation. There would still no doubt be asset price bubbles but
these wouldn't have the capacity to rock the entire sector.
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2c. Good Press: NAHB devotes precious pages to LVT
The National Association of Homebuilders commissioned a massive
report on affordable housing. Joshua Vincent, Executive Director of
the Henry George Foundation USA/Center for the Study of Economics,
authored pp 149-154 on shifting the property tax landward (kudos,
Josh). He asks, "Well, if a hard-headed group like this can be
educated about LVT, why not the rest of the world?" Why not, indeed?
http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx...
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2d. Good Press: Tell APM how to fix the economy
By Linda Fantin, American Public Media, lfantin at mpr.org
How would you fix the economy? American Public Media, producer of
Marketplace, Marketplace Money, Weekend America, Speaking of Faith,
American RadioWorks and other programs, is gathering ideas for
repairing the economy. Do you have suggestions? If so, write them.
They have created the Idea Generator. It's an online forum where you
can research, rank, and share ideas to transform the economy. Help
inform the way they cover economic issues.
By Ed Dodson, ejdodson at comcast.net Mar 26, 2008
A few days ago, I submitted the following to public radio.
"SOLVE THE RIDDLE OF BUSINESS CYCLES:
Economists consistently fail to describe the primary cause of
business cycles because 20th century economic theory has treated
nature (i.e., land) as just another form of capital good.
Neo-classical theory asserts that price clears all markets; however,
where nature is concerned rising prices stimulate hoarding and
speculation rather than an increase in supply. Our system of
taxation rewards hoarding and speculation and penalizes the
production of goods and services. This causes economic instability,
inflation and periodic crashes. Changing the source of public
revenue from wages and returns to capital goods to economic rent
would go a long way to creating a full employment society without
inflationary drivers."
They accepted my short write-up and came back to me with the
following: Dear Edward, Congratulations. Your idea has been posted
on the Idea Generator: Your Economy. This is a good time to tell
others more about the genesis of your proposal. What personal
experiences shaped your idea? Do you have research that would help
others understand your perspective? To share additional insights,
click the link above, then go to "comment on this idea," and post
them as supporting arguments. Many thanks, Linda Fantin, Associate
Director, Public Insight Journalism, American Public Media Link:
americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/engage08...
APM's Idea Generators provide a collaborative space online for large
numbers of people to research, argue and propose solutions to social
problems. The aim is to generate fact-based discussion on important
issues, and surface new ideas, trends, or knowledge for public radio
news coverage. The most recent Idea Generator topic is "Your
Economy", part of public radio's 2008 election coverage.
americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/engage08
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3. Numbers: Crash on course
Editor's note:
For up-to-date news and numbers, please visit www.progress.org
Some recent titles:
* Landowners have the power to enslave fellow human beings, but
appeals to conscience meet success. - Free Enslaved Pygmies in
the Congo
* Breathing can be fatal for asthmatics and children, until we quit
smogging up the air in American cities. - EPA lowers smog limits
-- but not enough
* Scientists testing the compounds in spices report encouraging
results in fighting germs, even cancer. - The Best Home Remedies
May Be Sitting in Your Spice Cabinet
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4a. Movement Progress: Nicaragua pushed to need reform
By Paul Martin, nssmga at ibw.com.ni Mar 6, 2008
We just finished the CE XXXVIII course with 49 grads. All signed the
IHG petition. We'll see how many of the 19 superior-level grads show
up for the follow-up meeting. The second draft of my all-new Spanish
language abbreviated P&P is 60% done.
The IHG building is looking a bit more complete, but we still have a
ways to go, maybe three more months before we can move in.
Editor's note: For the rest of this fascinating newsletter, please
email its author.
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4b. Movement Progress: HGF of GB update
By Peter Bowman, HGF London, drbowman at btinternet.com
March 21, 2008
Following his very successful course on Henry George's "Science of
Political Economy" David Triggs, chairman of the Henry George
Foundation in the UK, is running a 10 week course on "Protection or
Free Trade." The course will be held at the School of Economic
Science's premises at 10, Mandeville Place, London W1, beginning on
Wednesday 30th April. The idea is to have a similar format to the
previous course: to study the text of the book and then explore the
application in modern-day cases of the principles Henry George
identified.
For further details see www.henrygeorgefoundation.org
The School of Economic Science, a member of the CGO, is continuing
to run its "Economics with Justice" evening courses at Mandeville
Place, Tuesday to Friday evening and Saturday morning starting the
week beginning April 28th. This is a fresh and innovative approach
to economics influenced by Henry George's teachings and his love of
economic justice. For more details visit:
www.economicswithjustice.co.uk
The Henry George Foundation in London is promoting this important
new book, just published: "A New Model of the Economy" by Brian
Hodgkinson.
A hundred years Georgism and conventional economics parted company
and since then each has largely gone their separate ways. In that
time conventional economics has gained a reputation as a theoretical
construct that has become divorced from the real world.
This book is a rewriting of conventional economics that re-connects
it to the real world by including the fundamental role played by
land, the significance of credit and the banking system and the
crucial impact of the method of taxation. It shows how conventional
micro- and macro theory can be adapted to include the thinking of
Ricardo and George on the role of land in economics and also
recognizes the way bank money is created through credit.
The resulting analysis yields a thoroughly revised version of the
contemporary model of a capitalist economy, so that a genuine 'third
way' is revealed. This is not a mere modification of the present
system of absentee ownership, with all the attendant evils of
unemployment, monopoly and maldistribution of wealth and income.
Instead a model is presented of a system based upon natural law,
exhibiting economic security for all, fair distribution of output
and, above all, the opportunity for self-fulfillment through work.
For more details and to see the preface, summary and contents visit
www.henrygeorgefoundation.org
Available in US from April.
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5a. Letters: How much rent? Some answers
By Peter Meakin mea44kin at iafrica.com Feb 29, 2008
Paul Martin had a good question about what percentage of GDP is land
rent. What is wrong with Ricardo's answer that rent is the surplus
production over and above marginal land which can only support
salaries and investment yields so there is no surplus? I addressed
this question in my unpublished manuscript: "South Africa's Free
Land Options: Utopia or Chaos."
By Ole Lefmann ole.lefmann1 at virgin.net Mar 2, 2008
I have studied this question through five decades and have arrived
at the understanding that the size of rent of land cannot be
described as an exact amount or a certain percentage of the General
Domestic Product. It varies with several parameters in the social
life.
By Paul Metz metz at integer-consult.com Mar 2, 2008
Paul's question reminds me of the question often asked here in
Europe: "how high should a carbon tax be?" I always answer with the
counter question: "has the optimum level of any tax ever been
calculated before it was introduced?" Of course not, it is a matter
of trial and error, fine-tuning in a very complex fiscal and
economic environment.
Editor's note: For the rest of the answers in any of these
informative letters, please email its author. Thanks.
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5b. Letters: Geo-Blog Central?
By Jock Coats - Secretary, Lib Dems ALTER (Action for Land-value
Taxation and Economic Reform) jock.coats at taxshiftnow.org
Mar 26, 2008
Is there somewhere that anyone knows of where all us LVTers can link
our blogs?
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5c. Letters: Lucy honored by her nation's president
By Alanna Hartzok, earthrts at pa.net Mar 7, 2008
One of our great Georgists - Lucy Silva - now near the end of her
life due to cancer and in hospital in New York, is being lauded by
Dominican Republic media for her work teaching Georgist economics to
a quarter of a million people - the President promises to send a
medical airplane to transport her there for her final days. See note
below from Maria Acevedo.
"Today the President called Clarisa (Lucy's Attorney) and he will
bring all the money and facilities to bring Lucy to Dominican
Republic. Nick is very happy about this news and optimistic. All the
media, radio, TV, newspaper, were talking about Lucy and her work
teaching hundreds of people in this country through the Henry George
School. Well, I'm going to keep you informed. Best wishes, Marilu,
Mar 7, 2008"
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6a. Obituary: Clyde Cameron
By John Massam, Georgist Education Assoc. Inc, East Perth,
Australia, john.massam at multiline.com.au, March 17, 2008
A tribute to former Federal Minister Clyde Cameron, of S.A., who was
a lifelong follower of the tax reformer Henry George.
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6b. Obituary: Everett Gross
By Nadine Stoner, NadStoner at aol.com, Mar 15, 2008
A stalwart Georgist, Everett Gross of Crete, NE, died March 5, 2008.
He was 88. His funeral was March 11, 2008 at Grace United Methodist
Church, Crete, NE. Everett and his wife Mildred were honored as long
time Georgists at the 2000 Council of Georgist Organizations
conference in Des Moines, which their son Damon co-hosted. They had
become Georgists after reading Progress and Poverty that the book
club they joined had sent them. They saw a newspaper ad and attended
a Georgist conference in 1950 and went to about three-fourths of the
Georgist conferences after that. I met Everett at the Henry George
School of Chicago conference in 1976. (Prior to the formation of the
CGO in 1980 the schools and other organizations held their own
conferences.)
Everett had been an Army officer. He received his Masters degree in
Physics and was a professor at Doane College (where Mildred was also
a professor). Mildred died in April 2007. They raised three
children, Damon (who had served on Common Ground-USA's board and is
now on the Schalkenbach Foundation board), Donna Jaffe who serves on
the Henry George Foundation Board (where Everett was a trustee
emeritus), and Daniel who are all Georgists.
Everett had been active in ISTA, as was his sister Elaine Coons. I
recall at a Henry George Institute meeting that Everett gave us a
glimpse of his upbringing, commenting that you can take the boy out
of the country but you cannot take the country out of the boy.
Everett for a number of years wrote newspaper columns for two
Nebraska newspapers, some of which were published in a book Robert
Clancy got published for HGI.
Condolences may be sent to:
Damon Gross, 817 Western Avenue, Waterloo, Iowa, 50792
Dan and Anne Gross, PO Box 1282, Solomons, MD 20688
Donna and Lyle Jaffe, 2326 Massanutten Drive in Silver Spring,
MD 20906
Elaine Coons, 2932 N. Casa Tomas Ct., Phoenix, AZ 85016.
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7a. Likable link: The Liberal Democrats ALTER Updates
By Tony Vickers, tonyvickers at phonecoop.coop March 22, 2008
A new entry entitled 'ABC: ALTER - Banking - Cable' has been
published to The Liberal Democrats ALTER.
View entry: www.libdemsalter.org.uk/000125.php
entry Title: ABC: ALTER - Banking - Cable
Publish Date: 2008.03.22
Report of ALTER's Liverpool Conference Fringe. A new entry entitled
'Economics as if people mattered' has been published to The Liberal
Democrats ALTER.
View entry: www.libdemsalter.org.uk/000124.php
entry Title: Economics as if people mattered
Publish Date: 2008.03.22
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7b. Likable link: Latest Guardian
By David Brooks, radical at aapt.net.au Mar 29, 2008
The March 2008 Guardian is available in .pdf at
people.aapt.net.au/~radical/Guardian.html
I trust you enjoy the reading.
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7c. Likable link: For a course on LVT
By Fred Foldvary, ffoldvary at yahoo.com, Mar 28, 2008
Want a short course on Land Value Tax? See my summary (4 pages)
policy study www.foldvary.net/works/summary.pdf and the full
paper (36 pages) http://www.foldvary.net/works/policystudy.pdf
Paper copies can be ordered.
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8a. What You Can Do: Register for summer CGO Conference
By Sue Walton, sns at swwalton.com, February 15, 2008
For more information about the 2008 CGO conference and/or to
register, please contact Sue or Scott Walton by email or at
847/475-0391.
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8b. What You Can Do: Tell South Africa how to fix the cities
By Josh Vincent, Executive Director, Joshua at urbantools.org
Mar 20, 2008
The national ANC government of South Africa has forced cities to
abandon LVT (or SVR) as of this year. The city has to accept the
diktat of the national government. Comment to the city of
Johannesburg: www.joburg.org.za/content/view/1822/114/
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9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes (not too long after winter
solstice)
Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all"?
What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an
endangered plant?
"Like a bridge of hair is the line of temperature that we must keep.
Investigators tell us of the existence of temperatures of thousands
of degrees above zero and thousands of degrees below zero. But man's
body must maintain the constant level of a fraction over 98 degrees
above zero. A rise or fall of seven degrees either way from this
level will kill him. With the permanent rise or fall of a few more
degrees in the mean temperature of the surface of the globe it would
become uninhabitable by us."
- Henry George, in Science of Political Economy Book 1, Chapter 1,
p.13 (found by Joshua Vincent, circulated by Richard Biddle)
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10a. Publication affairs: Contributing to this issue
Along with those acknowledged above with each blurb:
Editor: Jeffery J. Smith
Assistant Editor: Caspar Davis
Archivist: Stewart Goldwater
Owner: The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
Founder: Adam Monroe
Send your news and other interesting material to the Georgist News
at jjs at geonomics.org or gn at progress.org
The deadline for the next issue is April 25.
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ABOUT THE GEORGIST NEWS
The Georgist News, a project of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation,
is an email newsletter brought to you free of charge. Its purpose is
to keep you updated on the latest news, citations, events, and
initiatives of relevance to people who, like Henry George, seek a
world free from special privilege and the causes of poverty.
Do you know someone who'd enjoy reading the GN? Please forward them
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always, it's free. Thanks.
The Georgist News is also available online at
http://www.georgist.com/
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The Georgist News, Volume Ten, Number Ten, April 1, 2008