Monday, Mar 22, 2010
Politically powerful landowners
CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH, Australian National University: Land Value Taxation: A Critique Of 'Tax Reform, A Rational Solution'
The abstract says it all:
"...such tax reform will never succeed precisely because of its advantages,
which adversely impinge on the interests of politically powerful landowners."
Worse in the UK.
Posted by doomwatch @ 02:14 PM (660 views) Add Comment
11 Comments
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1. doomwatch said...
There you have it in a nutshell
"Modern governments have proved unable to defend `the public interest' against
coalitions of private vested interests profiting from community-owned land value
increments. It is not surprising, as Seligman commented a century ago, that,
`the constitutional history of England is to a large extent a history of the struggle of
the people to gain control of the Treasury' 49"
2. mark wadsworth said...
Depressing but true.
3. landofconfusion said...
Absolutely. You only have to look at the rise in BTL, the lavish benefits Labour has given it and LabourLite's fear of imposing LVT ("it's not appropriate").
4. drewster said...
Nice paper. It was written in 2000 in the early years of a long and popular property boom. The political challenge might be slightly easier in a world where governments are desperate for money and reckless property speculators are (partially) blamed for the bubble.
Converting freehold land into long leases with reversionary rights to the state [...] may achieve similar ends.
Has this been tried anywhere in the world? It seems to me that it would allow a lot of benefits of LVT while addressing some of the main criticisms (e.g. the straw man argument that widows will be made homeless because they can't afford the tax on the family mansion).
5. the number cruncher said...
Drewster - Converting freehold land into long leases with reversionary rights to the state [...] may achieve similar ends.
This is the method employed in Botswana as well as land allocated periodically by tribal leaders (although private interests are chipping away at it) it works very well and is the reason why Botswana has the pest life indicators in Africa such as education, health and crime. Its the central theme in Fred Harrison's book the 'silver bullet'. Well worth a read or watch an potted version in HD on youtube - beautifully shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ0zLERW9B0
6. landofconfusion said...
Converting freehold land into long leases with reversionary rights to the state [...] may achieve similar ends.
Through my many discussions with BTL'ers I came up with this model:
- All and belongs to everyone.
- You can deprive others of the use (utility) of some land by paying everyone (the state) for the privilege (i.e. Land Value Taxation).
- The state reserves some land for state purposes, some land for social purposes, such as providing land for social cases and some land for temporary economic cases. Temporary economic cases are defined as those people with temporary but longer-term usage such as students and people engaged in business which requires such temporary use.
- Citizens cannot sub-let land(*) but they can provide services to renters who rent land privately from the state (the BTL compromise).
(*) Lodgers who share the utility of the land excluded.
Any thoughts?
7. landofconfusion said...
Duh.
belongs to everyone.
- All
8. landofconfusion said...
2nd try.
- All land belongs to everyone.
9. luckyjim said...
All roperty is theft ?
10. landofconfusion said...
All roperty is theft ?
Only if you don't pay for it.
11. mark wadsworth said...
Land ownership is theft. Taxation is theft.
Make the punishment fit the crime, is my motto.