by Fred Harrison, Geophilos, 2015. Review by Ed Dodson
With this latest project, Fred Harrison raises his warning of impending disaster to an even higher level. Those familiar with Fred’s work will find this book familiar in tone and territory. For others, the book is a wake-up call for desperately-needed action. Continue reading
by Mason Gaffney
We begin with the Pecora Hearings of March 1933 — ten days that shook Wall Street.
These were the dying days of Herbert Hoover’s Administration and the Republican Congress. Hoover was desperate to hold back safely short of challenging the cartelization of American industry he had sponsored. Continue reading
Remember back in the 1990s, when the value of land under Tokyo was greater than that of the entire USA? Land booms, alas, don’t last as long as the bizarre building patterns they generate… (from thewondrous.com)
by Mason Gaffney
Over many centuries we can observe that major peace and disarmament treaties have kicked off land booms by lowering taxes — all kinds of taxes. We also often observe that the booms lead to busts. A few examples follow: Continue reading
by Mike Curtis
One year things are going well, and the next year they’re not. Why is that? How does it happen that, all of a sudden, more and more people, who are willing and able to work, are unable to find employment? Continue reading
by Fred Foldvary
In its April/May 2008 publication “Current Issues in Economics and Finance: Second District Highlights,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York presents a study by Andrew Haughwout, James Orr, and David Bedoll on “The Price of Land in the New York Metropolitan Area.” Continue reading
by Mason Gaffney
Galloping settlement sprawl, such as that of the last 16 years, has set us up for The Great Crash of 2008. It has the signs of being a Category 5.
There are two main varieties: urban sprawl, and continental sprawl. Let’s start with a modest case of urban sprawl. Continue reading
by Fred Foldvary
The $700 billion mortgage bailout has been enacted, but unemployment is rising as many businesses cannot obtain the credit needed for their operations. I offer the following plan for a quick economic recovery, although the probability of it being considered by the administration is barely above absolute zero: Continue reading
by Mason Gaffney
Working capital is the bloodstream of economic life. It is physical capital, the fast-turning inventory of goods in process and finished goods that supplies materials to the worker, and feeds and clothes her family. Short term commercial loans and trade credit buy it, but the capital is “real” — a fact often forgotten in the paper and virtual worlds of high finance, whence come the highest inner circles of government. Continue reading
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