Deadline for our October issue: September 24.
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We spoke with CGO Administrator Sue Walton about the recent conference.
Sue Walton, CGO Administrator: Dr. Mason Gaffney, the Henry George Institute and the late Robert Andelson were honored for their outstanding contributions to the Georgist Movement at the 24th annual conference of Council of Georgist Organizations, which was held July 21-25, 2004 at the Sheraton Uptown located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. Gaffney of the University of California-Riverside gave an address on the "Taxable Capacity of Land." Mason was honored as the Georgist Educator of the Year. As a surprise, four of his five children were in the audience to watch him receive his award. The Henry George Institute was honored as the Georgist Organization of the Year; the award was accepted by Lindy Davies, the group's Program Director. Special conference guest, Bonny Andelson, accepted the Georgist Advocate of the Year award, which was posthumously awarded to her husband, Bob.
On Sunday morning (7/25) our concluding Friendship Brunch featured further tributes to Bob Andelson, by people in the audience and also sent in by many who were unable to attend. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology presented Bonny with a piece of art glass.
The most unusual event was the superlative dancing of Osamu Uehara, a classical ballet educator and dancer from New York City, who performed for conference participants on both Friday and Saturday nights. Osamu was warmly received by all.
Plus, Henry George (skillfully portrayed by David Giesen) made a special appearance on both Friday and Saturday nights, discussing his world travels.
GN: Overall, how many people attended the conference?
SW: Over 80 people attended all or part of the conference, which featured both internal education sessions and 'outreach to the public' sessions.
GN: What are the dates and location for next year's conference?
SW: August 2-6, 2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
by Cho, Young-Min, Director of office work, Henry George Association of Korea
The Henry George Association of Korea held the 14th Land School, an annual Georgist summer camp, from August 2nd to 5th. The camp was located at Jesus Abbey in Taebaek, a coal-mining town in the mountains about five hours southeast from Seoul, South Korea.
There were 11 lectures, presentations, a documentary show introducing the activities of the association and Henry George, and religious sessions. About 100 people interested in the Georgist movement and/or biblical justice stayed together through the four-day school, abiding by the strict dress and behavior code of the abbey. They also had hours for discussion and social activities in the abbey's beautiful environment.
This Land School, held under the leadership of our new president, Mr. Kim, Myounghwan (selected in the annual winter leadership camp), was different from other ones in various respects: first, lectures were divided into beginner level and intermediate level, so participants could choose lectures well suited to their needs. Second, lectures were developed and enhanced by the internal instructors who have actually worked and been trained in the association. Above all, lots of time was given to participants and they shared their impressions and thoughts after lectures.
Meanwhile, Kim, Yoon Sang, who translated Progress and Poverty into Korean, recently published "Land Public - A Notion Easy to Understand: Expounding Land Value Taxation". Korean Georgists expect that this book can play an important role in helping the general public to understand land value taxation more easily, because the previous works by Korean Georgists were generally focused on specific religious communities or were quite scientific.
In addition to the annual Land School, the Henry George Association of Korea holds regular chapter meetings, frequent education sessions, an annual leadership camp, and various campaigns. Some past campaigns have included monthly picketing in major downtown spots in Seoul and nationwide petitioning for special legislation on Land Value Taxation.
GN Comments: The activities of Georgists in Korea set a high standard and a challenging model for the rest of the world's Georgists. Bravo!
by Joe Casey
I have on a small Excel spreadsheet for Virginia and each of its counties and cities, the land assessed value, improvements assessed value, real estate tax revenues, land area, population, real estate tax rate, land tax as a percent of real estate taxes, average land value per capita, average real estate tax per capita.
If you want you can analyze these data (sources are identified) to test your theories, dispel myths, or explore the real world of facts. Just ask, and I will e-mail it to you.
Joe Casey - jmcasey@netzero.net
by Lindy Davies
The course is a based on a brand new abridgment of Henry George's The Science of Political Economy, which is now available from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. Much more accessible than the original (and more portable; it weighs 9 ounces, compared to 32 for the old edition!), the new book features an introduction by Harry Pollard, and an afterword by yours truly.
Much more than previous offerings, the new course explores the links between Henry George's political economy and what is taught in colleges today. Georgist education moves into the 21st century with this new course - and if it has been a few years since you picked up George's The Science of Political Economy, then there's no better time to reacquaint yourself with this important work!
If you've been *meaning* to undertake some further exploration of political economy, but haven't quite gotten around to it: now is the time!
The abridged text of SPE and all the readings for the course are available online; the $20 enrollment fee entitles you to individual feedback from a trained instructor. If you don't want to work on the screen, printed versions are also available.
Please do stop by!
Lindy Davies - Program Director, HGI
An article about the CGO conference appearing in the New Mexico Business Weekly, plus a link to a July 27 KUNM radio interview with Georgists at the conference, can be found at: http://www.progress.org/cgo/pc04.html
Also - do you have photos from the CGO conference? We would like to post
some pictures at the CGO web site. Please let us know what you can supply.
Thanks.
Just a reminder to all readers of the Georgist News.
You can find the entire text of most, past issues of the Georgist News,
along with a way to search the text, at http://www.georgist.com
You will also find general information about the Georgist News there. Please
visit the site, use its tools, and recommend it to others.
Many of you know about, or have participated in, the Alodia Project - an initiative developed by Lindy Davies of the Henry George Institute.
A poor African nation, Alodia suddenly finds itself in the midst of a military coup, and the new leadership introduces Georgist reforms. What happens?
Bill Batt has written a review of the Alodia project, and that review was
recently published in The Progress Report. You can find it at:
http://www.progress.org/2004/alodiarev.htm
For more on Alodia itself, visit: http://www.henrygeorge.org/alodia/
To order your own copy of the special Alodia issue of the Georgist Journal, visit: http://www.henrygeorge.org/alodiabk.htm
Ed Dodson has sent in this interesting quote.
Robert Puentes, Senior Research Manager at the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy of the Brookings Institution, recently wrote (in the Washington Times, June 21, 2004):
"... the region needs to reaffirm its commitment to a world-class transit system by establishing a dedicated source of revenue to take the burden off state and local general fund revenues and shore up an important regional asset. Reserving for Metro proceeds from regional sales and/or gas taxes are a possibility. So are congestion charges, parking fees or strategies that capture increases in land value near Metro stations."
GN Comments: It is, of course, nice to see people mentioning favorably the Georgist method of mass transit funding, namely the capture of increases in land value near stations. But when someone gives equal mention to Jim Crow sales taxes as a funding option, we realize what we are up against. Many people who can understand the workings of economic incentives simply do not see anything morally different between collecting unearned surplus on the one hand, or seizing the fruits of production and human initiative on the other hand. Worse still, many seem to think that it is unscientific to care about such differences.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy announces fellowship opportunities for 2004-2005 for the pursuit of scholarly research in the field of planning and development. Applications are due by email on October 1, 2004.
If you are interested in applying for a fellowship, please visit http://www.lincolninst.edu/education/lilp_research_fellowships.pdf to learn more and find guidelines on how to apply.
"Nothing to lose but your chains: Reforming the English local government finance system" will take place September 14, 2004, from 5:00-7:00 PM, at Clutha House, 10 Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AY.
Twenty-first century Britain is one of the world's most centralised states and is becoming more centralised with every passing year. Local government's increasing reliance on funding from the centre has led to the emasculation of local democracy and ever-declining voter turnout at local elections.
Policy Exchange and the New Economics Foundation invite you to the launch of their final report into the reform of local government finance in England. The report is the third part of a substantial research project, and details a series of proposed reforms. The reforms aim to correct the shortcomings of the present system of local finance, whilst taking into account current political realities. The authors believe they provide a solution that is both radical and politically feasible, returning autonomy to local government whilst retaining a workable balance between concerns about national equity and local control.
Please RSVP to info@policyexchange.org.uk or ring 020 7340 2650
What are communities doing to get out, and stay out, of poverty?
"Grassroots & Groundwork: Practical Models for Reducing Poverty and Rebuilding Communities" will take place Sept. 12-14, 2004, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
The conference is about "what's working" for the long term in communities all across the country. The event will highlight 20 practical models - community-focused strategies that are showing real results.
For details and to register, visit: http://www.grassrootsandgroundwork.nwaf.org/
"Bridging the Gap: Sustainable Environment" is a United Nations Global Compact conference to be held September 17-18, 2004, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For more information, visit: http://opim.wharton.upenn.edu/gc/?sec=1&page=conference
The World Peace Congress will take place January 5-9, 2005, in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
The deadline for submitting papers is November 15, 2004. Abstracts may be sent earlier for preliminary acceptance.
For further information, contact the IPPNO Peace Congress Committee, P.O. Box 6943, Radford University, Radford VA 24142. Or email Dr. Glen T. Martin, IPPNO President at gmartin@radford.edu or visit: http://www.radford.edu/~peace/ippno/
A loud voice cannot compete with a clear voice, even if it's a whisper.
- Barry Neil Kaufman
Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
- James A. Michener
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