by Lindy Davies
Recently I heard a rather inspiring TED talk by George Monbiot on the notion of “rewilding.” Monbiot was discussing how the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park brought about a wonderfully unpredictable series of cascading ecological benefits. It would seem likely that the wolves would help to control the deer population, which they did — but all kinds of other groovy things happened. Continue reading
by Richard Giles
Robert Andelson’s influential 1986 book Commons Without Tragedy was inspired by Garrett Hardin’s famous essay “The Tragedy of the Commons” (1968). Andelson wrote that “with respect to the tenure of land, the differences between Hardin and George are merely verbal.” Continue reading
by Dan Sullivan
The ultimate solution is for each sovereign nation to create its own currency and either spend that currency directly into circulation or give it on a per capita basis. As long as banks enjoy the privilege of creating legal tender out of thin air and lending it into circulation, the most basic injustices will continue. We therefore applaud efforts to reform national currencies by the American Monetary Institute in the United States, and Positive Money in the United Kingdom, and consider their proposals ethically and economically sound. Continue reading
by Edward J. Dodson
One of the issues we face in every society is how best to limit the powers of government to those essential to individual liberty, equality of opportunity and the protection of our equal right to a healthy physical environment. History and our contemporary experience both support the conclusion that there is no fixed set of functions to be performed by government at all times and in all places. Continue reading
by Mason Gaffney
“The basis of allocating loans is not marginal productivity but collateral security” — Rainer Schikele
Henry George likened the aggregate effects of land speculation to those of a cartel of landowners. What do cartels do? They control enough of a resource to affect price, and withhold part of the resource from use, or from its full and best use. Formal cartels do this consciously. Herbert Hoover called it “Associationism,” and fostered his “Associations” which he evidently thought were good for the economy and the country. Continue reading
by Josh Vincent
On Monday, June 20, 2013, Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed HB-6706 into law. The act will permit land value taxation in three pilot communities. This is the first step, it is hoped, which will lead many more Connecticut municipalities to adopt land value taxation. Advocates believe this reform will allow the state to eventually tackle statewide structural problems with education funding and infrastructure construction and maintenance, helping to turn around a sputtering economy. Continue reading
by Lindy Davies
In his well-crafted report on last July’s IU conference in London, Bill Batt included the following news from the Business Meeting:
From its inception, the name has been ‘The International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade,’ even though it is widely understood that the words “Free Trade” have today become linked to an economic philosophy of neoliberalism with corporate trade rules that are detrimental to labor and the environment. Continue reading