Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009
Fred Harrison - my Hero
Renegade Economist: The Human Right - film special
Fred does it again with this brilliant film on why Land Value tax is the only fair way tax and the way to reduce house prices and keep them sensible forever. You tell em Fred!
Posted by the number cruncher @ 10:35 PM (504 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. mark wadsworth said...
Yup. Fred H rocks!
2. shipbuilder said...
'The Silver Bullet' is a fantastic, essential read.
3. fubar said...
Fred does Rock but how the chuffin 'eck do we get a system as skewed and with a whole class whose existence is based on property ownership and the extraction of rent to agree to Fred H's land value tax reforms? I honestly believe it would take a civil war for that one to happen, much as I like it, it seems like an unattainable dream - look at the hoo-ha that happened around fox hunting because those same people had the pip with the idea.
4. happy mondays said...
Nice !
5. powerofnow said...
@fubar.... read the approach outlined here: http://www.landvaluetax.org/the-campaign/how-should-we-be-campaigning.html
"No, we don't want to tax your garden - all we want is for you to honour your obligation to pay for the services you receive, rather than sponge off tenant families who pay the full rent of their location PLUS taxes on their wages which are used, in part, to subsidise the land owner."
"it's NOT a tax. It's inviting middle-class home-owners (today's aristocracy, in political power terms) to honour their value system - pay for what you get, and get rid of taxes on the incomes you earn. This is the language of a political/moral prospectus that the voting majority - middle-class home-owners - would not be able to oppose, publicly."
6. the number cruncher said...
Fubar - I agree if LVT was ever in a labour manifesto they would first face the power of the press distorting it into a heinous crime and then face a possible military coup. The list is long of assassinated liberal politicians that have been on the point of introducing land reform.
But LVT is not even mentioned in 'main stream media' it is never uttered by any main stream politicians, is this because of ignorance or conspiracy?
As Fred points out at the start of 'the Silver Bullet' the biggest problem is that most progressives do not even understand the concepts involved.
Most of my friends and acquaintances are sick to death of me explaining LVT to them - but I will bang on about it till the day I die!
7. mark wadsworth said...
@ Number Cruncher, comment 6, there is a part of me that wonders whether the ruling classes (remembering that land ownership was far nore concentrated in 1909 - only ten per cent of people were owner-occupiers) started the Great War deliberately in order to distract people from the ideas in The People's Budget.
8. happy mondays said...
@ Mw that sounds extreme, 100,s of 1000,s sent to war to please a few & keep them in there power posistions & land ownership.This must have gone through the ages & still happening now..
9. the number cruncher said...
MW
You could well be right. We did start the war by invading Iraq after all. I heard that when we invaded Iraq in 1914 it was for 710 reasons but the ministry of war sent the papers upside down to the King. I wonder if 90 years later the same mistake was made.
10. shipbuilder said...
I really can't see how a simplified system of single tax - LVT or other and citizens income would not be a vote winner if explained properly to the public. Even just for a large party to put it forward on a manifesto, to see the objections from the major parties and stimulate debate?
Really all these proposals do is to illustrate what we knew already - none of the major parties are viable options. None wish to alter the status quo or the balance of power between the people and the wealthy/powerful elite, so 'far-reaching reforms' are nothing more that tinkering at the edges.
11. shipbuilder said...
5. powerofnow said...
"@fubar.... read the approach outlined here: http://www.landvaluetax.org/the-campaign/how-should-we-be-campaigning.html
"No, we don't want to tax your garden - all we want is for you to honour your obligation to pay for the services you receive, rather than sponge off tenant families who pay the full rent of their location PLUS taxes on their wages which are used, in part, to subsidise the land owner."
"it's NOT a tax. It's inviting middle-class home-owners (today's aristocracy, in political power terms) to honour their value system - pay for what you get, and get rid of taxes on the incomes you earn. This is the language of a political/moral prospectus that the voting majority - middle-class home-owners - would not be able to oppose, publicly.""
This is the big difference between what I call 'real' capitalists and the fake greed-merchants that define capitalism in terms of their innate superiority to the plebs. The 'real' capitalists argue for the system because they genuinely believe it to be the most efficient and fairest for all and are happy to earn their wealth rather than simply get it from the scarcity value of their assets. The greed-merchants believe that it is simply 'tough' that there is not enough land and resources to go around, they got there first, so there, and their belief in their innate superiority/work ethic/intelligence means that they 'deserve' the full profit from any exploitation of a country's land or natural resources. They prefer to be taxed in their income because they know where the real wealth lies.