by Diana E. Forrest
Idle Jack is the hate figure of the welfare system. No matter how low the unemployment benefit is, he would rather take it than work. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Issue #112
We Got a Bailout Now
By the Soggy Bottom Boys, and Bradley D. “Buzz” VanDyke
I had a friend named Rambl’in Bob
He used to steal, gamble and rob
He thought he was the smartest guy around
Well I found out last Monday
That Bob got locked up Sunday
They’ve got ’im in the jailhouse way downtown Continue reading
Rent
by Edmund Vance Cooke
from The People’s Advocate, Adelaide, Australia, 1937
You may tinker with the tariff and make some simple gains,
You may put on tolls or take ’em off, inducing party pains;
You may monkey with the money, but the lack of it remains,
For the Mother of monopoly is laughing as she reigns. Continue reading
Where We Are: US GDP, First Quarter
by Fred Foldvary
The gross domestic product of the United States fell sharply in the first three months of 2009, but shows signs that the recession is decelerating. The national income account published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis put US GDP at $14.075 billion (thousand million) Continue reading
Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners vs. the U.S.A.
by Mumia Abu-Jamal, City Lights Books, 2009. Review by Lindy Davies
No doubt, some GJ readers will roll their eyes: “Oh, Mumia again…” To them, I can only say that Jailhouse Lawyers (like Abu-Jamal’s other books, particularly the recent We Want Freedom) is well worth reading regardless of the author’s notoriety. Ironically, though, it is because of its author’s name that I, along with many other readers, heard of it — and that is what makes Mumia Abu-Jamal one of the most important writers in America today. Continue reading
The Top Ten Reasons Why the Georgist Remedy is Not a Tax
by Daniel Syddall
10. Taxes are arbitrary. Land dues are not arbitrary.
9. Taxes are unjustified. Land dues are the fulfillment of justice.
8. Taxes add cost. Land rent is always paid anyway, so land dues prevent private appropriation, reducing land costs.
7. Taxes are inimical to property rights. Land dues are essential for property rights.
6. Taxes create inefficiency, by imposing deadweight loss. Land dues raise efficiency, by reducing deadweight loss. Continue reading
The Eighteen-Year Real Estate Cycle
Much is being said about the accurate predictions that seem to have been based on this phenomenon (and at this year’s CGO conference in Cleveland, the matter will be explored further). To help focus our thoughts on this complex subject, eight Georgist thinkers recently participated in an email conversation, excerpted here. Continue reading
Omitted from the Spoon River Anthology
by Luke North
Luke North was the pseudonym of James H. Griffes, the prolific Single Tax activist, editor and poet of the first three decades of the 20th century. Spoon River Anthology (1915) by Edgar Lee Masters, is the celebrated collection of short poems in the form of epitaphs of the members of a small midwestern town, delivered by the dead themselves. Continue reading
A Visit to Managua
by Lindy Davies
The most vivid impression I took away from Managua is that it is a place where things don’t work. There doesn’t seem to be any malice in it; people seem quite cheerfully to be going about their many-hindered tasks. And while there is plenty of blame to go around, there doesn’t seem to be any obvious villain; even the new “socialist lite” Sandinista government seems to be trying its best and is, after all, a heck of a lot better than what they could have, but — things in Managua just don’t seem to work. Continue reading
Essential Transition for the Empowering of Communities
by Shirley-Anne Hardy
The earth… and all things therein, are the general property of all mankind, from the immediate gift of the creator…. There is no foundation in nature or in natural law why a set of words upon parchment should convey the dominion of land. — William Blackstone (1723-80)
How simple, how clear — how fundamental! Thanks be to Progress of Australia for printing this powerful wake-up call on the front cover of its January-February issue! Continue reading