Welcome aboard to new subscriber Karl Widerquist, Lecturer in
Politics, University of Reading, UK. If any reader knows of anyone who
should also be a reader, please do put them in touch. This month marks
the new French Republic's Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens,
issued on my birthday a couple centuries ago (should be a global
holiday).
Enjoy reading of the progress below.
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CONTENTS:
1. News: Nigerian gov on board? Alaska gov on oil
2. Numbers: All the bad news means what?
3. Good Press: UK's Financial Times, Independent, & 3 busy sites
4. Movement Progress: Taiwan, New York City, Russia - all again
5. Letters: Wetzel in SA; Pia on unity; e-ddress changes
6. Obituary: Juan Carlos Zuccotti
7. Likeable links: Moyers; Fred Harrison; Free text; Happy Danes;
Gaffney; CSI
8. What You Can Do: Promote RSF film; Co-found party;
Attend conferences
9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes
10. Publication affairs: Contributors, About the Georgist News
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1a. News: Fashola enlists help of quantity surveyors in land use
charge The Nation (of Nigeria), August 23, 2008
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday enlisted
the assistance and collaboration of the state's chapter of the
Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors in the administration and
valuation of the state's Land Use Charge... Such appropriate long term
financing model, Fashola said, was necessary in order to pay for
infrastructural development such as road constructions, adding that it
would also ensure that a steady stream of income is got from property
to enable government to continue to increase the value of services.
The governor noted that in all the places where the impact of
government has been felt across the state, the value of property has
gone up but regretted that the property owners were still being asked
to pay the old rate of land use charge in spite of the increase in
value of their property... He urged the quantity surveyors to advise
their clients to reciprocate the government gesture by giving back an
amount commensurate with the value added to their property.
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1b. News: Alaska Gov on ownership of oil
by Paul A. Martin, Director, Instituto Henry George, Managua,
Nicaragua, director at ceihg.org, August 22, 2008
PBS' Now program reported a scandal in Alaska. The Governor and the
Now voiceover explain who is the owner of oil in Alaska and how the
state taxes the oil and not having income or sales tax and having the
dividend, etc. The few words from the Governor saying, "the oil
companies don't own the resources" is worth the price of admission.
View a couple of minutes of video at
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/347/index.html
I (PM) summarize news articles from June-July of this year. It is the
fruit of many hours of analysis and editing, full of relevant facts
and journalistic analysis regarding the relevant economic,
environmental and scientific trends reported in the last two months.
Topics include the growing Recession/Depression; Energy and Food
Crisis; Global Warming and Alternative Energy; Medical breakthroughs,
etc. If this document can be useful for your work in disseminating the
georgist paradigm, write me.
For more news relevant to movement progress, please visit the Progress
Report daily. Read it with your morning coffee!
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2. Numbers: All the bad news means what?
While the mainstream media reports the home price decline, you need to
turn to the Progress Report (www.progress.org) to put the stats in the
proper perspective of the 18-year land-price cycle. For example, did
you catch the following in the Progress Report?
What links presidential candidates, grocery bills, and housing
defaults? Three things -- location, location, location.
Obama/McCain, shelf prices, and the business cycle all bow to site rent
Who are the all-time greatest in a field which lacks a real Nobel but
needs international and intergenerational competition?
Economics Olympics
CBSMarketWatch columnist -- US economy runs not on manufacturing,
agricultural, service, or consumeritis, but on war.
Pentagon can't find $2.3 trillion, wasted on 'national defense'
Dr. Nouriel Roubini predicts a housing bust, a huge credit crisis, an
oil shock and a deep recession. Just for starts.
Geonomists are more accurate but a guy half-right gets more attention
Alternative energy is being altered by insider deals and by the value
of ideal spots being pocketed by too few beneficiaries.
Big Boxes try solar, Localities battle Big Solar and Big Wind
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3a. Good Press: Letter in Financial Times: Land is valuable so it
should be taxed By Anthony Bottrill (a World Bank economist,
apparently, Josh Vincent has found), August 27, 2008
Lombard and the landlord interest groups that are lobbying for
exemption from the tax on empty buildings ("This window tax must go"
and "Concern grows over 'bombsite Britain' tax", August 23) miss the
key point that these buildings are occupying a valuable resource in
the land itself on which they stand. Land is a valuable commodity and
should be taxed, whether it has a building on it or not. If the price
of land falls in a recession, that will encourage other investors or
companies to find a good use for it. Recessions may be painful but
they are good at shaking out the inefficient use of resources, whether
labour, capital or land.
The British letters above and the below are via Carol Wilcox.
Tony Vickers in The Independent
By Tony Vickers, Chair, Lib Dems Action on Land-value Taxation &
Economic Reform
If we taxed owners rather than occupiers of property (as most
countries do) and, even better, if we taxed land, not the buildings on
them (as some countries do), we would not need "empty rates"... The
Green Party supports LVT, as do groups in all three main parties...
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3b. Good Press: Earth Day speech at the United Nations
by John McConnell, 93 year old Founder of Earth Day;
via Walt Rybeck, August 6, 2008
The evils of our present income tax and unfair property taxes should
be addressed. The Henry George Schools advocate honest, fair taxation
and are proving its value in many communities where their land tax
program has been adopted. Earth Trustee Message
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3c. Good Press: UK Political figure tells LandCafe discussion list
By Andrew Duffield, Parliamentary Candidate, UK Liberal Democrat
Party, August 8, 2008
Whilst almost certainly a necessary transitional measure, an LVT
exemption only benefits those who own land. Surely an unconditional,
universal CitDiv is not so much a payment for doing nothing as it is
compensation for the land that others' ownership prevents you from
using, irrespective of whether or not you are an owner yourself.
Sounds fair to me!
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3d. Good Press: Three busy sites include a CitDiv
Three websites so far have carried the coverage of the Democratic
Convention in Denver by Richard C. Cook, ex of NASA (and an
acquaintance from annual conferences), including the Market Oracle and
the Congress Blog on Aug 27 and the JVL Bi-weekly of Aug 29. Cook
writes: "The (AMI) Act also includes a provision for a Citizens'
Dividend, similar in some respects to the Alaska Permanent Fund, which
would inject desperately needed purchasing power into the economy
without additional government debt or taxation."
Earlier in August (4th), Emer O'Siochru, Irish activist, posted and
circulated our Geonomics Manifesto in Land, which cited both the
recovery and disbursement of rents, at the FEASTA forum. If you wish
to post a reply to the whole Land forum, please use the following link
to do so: http://www.feasta.org/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&t=668
To read other encouraging endorsements of the geoist reform - forego
taxes in favor of recovering rents - please visit the Progress Report
daily. You'll see: Geonomics, coming of age? Maybe if you wait long
enough, good ideas do spread and get promoted by mainstream voices.
UN urges phase out of energy subsidies to help poor
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4a. Movement Progress: Taiwan has a new land tax?
By Bill Batt, hwbatt at gmail.com
Check out this Taiwan blog. I think this is what you were telling the
Taiwanese eight years ago -- apparently now it's instituted. "Ways the
Taiwanese government gets citizens to do what they're ... By
meiguotaiwanren: For taxpayers residing in Taipei County, you have a
chance to win a motorbike in a prize draw if you pay the second term
commercial vehicle license tax on time by October, and the land value
tax, to be launched in November! Becoming Taiwanese -
http://meiguotaiwanren.wordpress.com "
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4b. Movement Progress: LVT in NYC?
By Joshua Vincent, www.urbantools.org
Well, the bill was introduced. Now, we need to find traction. LVT in
NYC? It is up to us. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A09371&sh=t
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4c. Movement Progress: Rent recovery by mass transit?
By Mikhail Kozlov, McKinsey & Company, Inc. Russia
Your colleague, Todd Litman of Victoria Transport Policy Institute
recommended us contact with you on the below topic. McKinsey &
Company is a global management consulting firm. We are the trusted
advisor to the world's leading businesses, governments, and
institutions. Right now we have a study on influence of railway
stations in cities. We are extremely interested in purchasing or
getting copies of publications and books we have found in your
"Financing Transit Systems Through Value Capture" paper 2006. Thank
you in advance.
Editor's Note: This annotated bibliography continues to be one of
the most popular documents I've ever written for professionals.
Contact us for a copy.
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5a. Letters: Wetzels' South Africa Trip Wrap up and Restart
By Dave Wetzel, Davewetzel42 at googlemail.com, Aug 28, 2008
I was here to help with funding ideas for the Cape Town Bus Rapid
Transit System ... Had plenty of fun on the way here though.
Editor's Note: The complete report cited Dave's inspiring and
successful work, more accomplishments than would fit in here.
Please contact him to read it. Thanks.
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5b. Letters: Georgists need to be United
By Pia Francesca, sagemotherpds at hotmail.com, August 28, 2008
As an American woman of diverse background (African, European,
etc.), and a Progressive Earth-loving, Economic/Social Justice
worker, (who's also a product of the New York City Public and
Private Education System), I'm asking all of you to stop
complaining, and get fired-up! We've got an important role at this
particular time, in (North) American/World History. Let's not blow
it, by "..beating our chests.." and internal strife! We need
outreach, education, as well as political/civil action. How is
anyone going to listen to Henry George's remedies, if we don't work
with one another? We got revved-up in Kansas City. Let's make sure
it's an energy efficient "Little Engine" that can/ and will work.
Let's stop holding on to old hurts, forgive, and get moving! "Now,
warfare is the negation of {human} association." {Progress and
Poverty Book X, Chaper 3}
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5c. Letters: E-ddresses changes
Kindly note change of email address for
Dave Wetzel, London, to Davewetzel42 at googlemail.com
Godfrey Dunkley, Cape Town, to landtax at telkomsa.net
Paul Martin, in Nicaragua where he runs a school to teach Spanish and
a Henry George Institute, ceihg at ceihg.org; the address, director at
ceihg.org will be more used for executive and personal correspondence
with the Director.
Paul adds that several geoist websites do not seem to link to the
Instituto Henry George's website. He invites you to place a link to
their site using their new web address which is www.CEIHG.org.
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6. Obituary: Juan Carlos Zuccotti (1929-2008)
by Fernando Scornik Gerstein, President of the International Union,
madrid at scornik-gerstein.com, July 1, 2008
Juan Carlos Zuccotti was an Architect born in the City of Buenos
Aires. Due to his work, studies and investigation, he travelled
around the world for over 26 years, across 29 countries and four
continents. He went back to Argentina from time to time (1983-1990)
and returned definitely in 2004. On two occasions he was a scholar
of the Organization of American States (OAS). He was awarded an
international scholarship by the OAS that allowed him to resume his
studies abroad. As consequence of the military dictatorship of 1996
he was included in the list of professors in exile for political
reasons. He was a business, union and cooperative adviser to the
OAS, the United Nations and to public and private institutions. He
worked in teaching and journalism.
Zuccotti was a member of the Henry George Institute in the City of
New York, where he followed specialized studies of Political Economy
as well as at the Henry George School of Social Science of
Philadelphia. When he returned to Buenos Aires for the first time he
joined in the Institute for Economic Training (ICE), founded by
Professor Hector Sandler.
Editor's Note: The complete obituary cited much more of Sr.
Zuccotti's uplifting and multifaceted work, including many more
accomplishments than would fit in here. Please contact Sr. Scornik
to read it in length. Thanks.
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7a. Likeable link: Bill Moyers on housing foreclosures
By Alanna Hartzok, earthrts at pa.net
Here is the link to the Moyer's program, suggest you include in next
HGN and urge everyone to view it. For today's topical issues,
especially as featured on Bill Moyer's JOURNAL
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07182008/profile.html on July 18th
as one of the housing foreclosure epi-centers.
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7b. Likeable link: Fred Harrison leads geoists into 21st C.
By Fred Harrison, metaman at talktalk.net
We will use video films and the internet to offer a worldwide audience
an alternative account of the economic crisis. Two of our young
colleagues -- Ross Ashcroft and Megan Campbell -- have joined us to
create a new kind of communications company. This will be a tool for
identifying the guilty people who brought the world to this mess; it
will offer the solutions directly to the new IT generation. To visit
our Youtube Channel, click: www.Youtube.com then type in "renegade
economist" to search for our videos. Our first three films come up on
the screen. Before viewing one of them, why not click on the link in
blue, on the right side of the page - the words: Renegade Economist -
which will take you straight to our Channel. The films are displayed
there.
This autumn, we will launch a dozen films to accompany my next book,
The Renegade Economist. This book will only be available as a pdf
download from our blogging website, which you can visit by clicking on
www.renegadeeconomist.com We will place the 1-minute welcome video on
the www.renegadeeconomist.com website after our return from
Mozambique, where we're filming a video to promote The Silver Bullet.
Currently being edited is my first video-blog - my answers on a BBC
radio phone-in show, which we filmed. If you enter your email address
by logging-on to our Youtube Channel, you will be automatically
informed of the videos as they come on-stream.
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7c. Likeable link: Free economics textbooks
By Bill Batt, hwbatt at gmail.com, August 24, 2008
An article in my local Albany Times Union cited a free textbook. I
downloaded it at http://www.introecon.com/ The most interesting thing I
found, and there are a few, is a discussion of land value gradients!
When you download, then just search the pdf file on "land value" and
you'll see interesting stuff. Contrary to the local news article, this
is not the only text available for download for free -- so is Fred
Foldvary's. See http://www.foldvary.net/economics.html. Given the
choice, I'd choose Fred's, but it's nice to see some others out there
that include stuff at least peripherally Georgist.
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7d. Likeable link: Happiest people in the world
By Dan Pederson, danp888 at gmail.com , August 19, 2008
I have just finished first version of a little flash movie about what
I hope will happen in Denmark:
http://www.happiocracy.dk/happiocracy/swf/goldegg.swf
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7e. Likeable link: The Great Crash of 2008, by Mason Gaffney
By Polly Cleveland, econamici at georgiststudies.org , August 16, 2008
This crash is The Big One; it has signs of becoming a Category 5.
How do we know? We've "been there and done that" so many times
before, roughly every 18 years over the last 800 or more. CONTINUED
http://www.masongaffney.org/essays/Great_Crash_of_2008.pdf
I send Econamici--occasional emails with interesting attachments or
links--to friends who are economists or care about economic issues.
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7f. Likeable link: School of Cooperative Individualism update
By Ed Dodson, ejdodson at comcast.net , August 16, 2008
July and August have proven to be busy months for me. I delivered
two talks on the economy at the Council of Georgist Organizations
conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and upon my return home began
work to update and improve the Encyclopedia on Political Economy
section of the School of Cooperative Individualism. Over time, many
of the links to articles listed in the Encyclopedia had disappeared
or changed. Many new listings have also been added. The timing for
completion of the Encyclopedia's updating should make it a useful
tool for students and other researchers during the coming academic
year.
I invite you to browse the Encyclopedia. You can help make this
online Encyclopedia even better by sending to me links to material
you discover online that ought to be listed and linked in the SCI
Encyclopedia.
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8a. What You Can Do: Film Drive for RSF
By Richard Biddle, RSF Ad Hoc Film Leverage Committee, August 29, 2008
Please consider this appeal to help promote our film, The End of
Poveryt? Cinema Libre Studio (Philippe Diaz and Beth Portello) is
responsible for the professional promotion and distribution of our
film and will do an excellent job. Additionally, the Robert
Schalkenbach Foundation created the Ad Hoc Film Leverage Committee
which will be working closely with the Ad Hoc Media Committee and
Schalkenbach's Matt Stillman to extend the list of people and
organizations who will be solicited to help in the film's promotion.
Matt Stillman (mstillman at gmail.com) is the contact person. Matt
writes: There are three main types of outreach we are doing around
the film: traditional media - writers, columnists, op-eds editors,
anchors, commentators or their staffs in newspapers, magazines,
television, radio; groups - CARE, Heifer International, OxFam etc as
well as religious organizations that have strong messages around
poverty, charity, social justice and environmentalism; individuals -
celebrities of varying size, authors, politicians, bureaucrats
So if you have names you think we should reach out to, make a list.
Do some research on their contact information. Imagine who has a
platform to talk about the messages of the film.... that is for the
people you don't know.
The people you do know who fall into one of those categories
above...do a warm-up call. What is a warm up call? Essentially it is
a call to someone you know telling them, briefly and broadly about
the film and how you are involved. Tell them that you would love
their help in getting the word out. Ask them if they would mind
being put into our contact database where they would likely get a
copy of the film within 8 weeks or so.
Once you have done that put all the contact information and any
other information into a spreadsheet and email them to me, mstillman
at gmail.com.
Please don't do this piecemeal... Give me as many names at one time
as possible. Questions? Email me, Matt Stillman (mstillman at
gmail.com)
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8b. What You Can Do: Party Drive for Free Earth
By Fred Foldvary, fred at foldvary.net, August 9, 2008
Do you agree with me that the current candidates for president, as
well as their political parties, don't confront the fundamental
economic issues? That they don't offer remedies that eliminate the
causes of social problems? Do you wish there was a Georgist
political party? If so, I invite you to join the Free Earth Party.
This is a serious project. The platform is at
http://foldvary.net/free-earth/index.html
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8c. What You Can Do: Attend monetary conference
By Steve Zarlenga, AMI, August 25, 2008
The question of usury will be a central theme of our 4th Annual AMI
Monetary Reform Conference at Roosevelt University in Chicago,
September 25-28th, from a philosophical, religious and empirical
standpoint. Our other theme is Warfare. Clean, safe accommodations
are available next door to Roosevelt for $31 per night! For a color
schedule of speakers topics, photos and bios, including the
developing Usury examination, please see
http://www.monetary.org/2008schedule.html
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8d. What You Can Do: Attend Geoist conference
By Sue Walton, CGO, August 25, 2008
What: 2009 Annual CGO conference
When:Save the Date August 5-9th,
Where: Doubletree Hotel on Lakeside Blvd, Cleveland, Ohio.
What's Special: the hotel is less than 3 blocks from the Rock 'N Roll
Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Museum of Science
Editor's Note: In early August, Christian Michel, the former owner
of one of Europe's largest trust and corporate service companies and
a member of the Board of Directors of the Libertarian International
and of the Committee of the Libertarian Alliance (also the author of
such books as La Liberte and of many monographs for the Libertarian
Alliance, including The End of the Warrior at
http://www.liberalia.com) organized a talk for yours truly, about
which he said afterwards, "You gave us a great performance on the
6th." Another in audience wrote, "Thank you so very very much for
the invite to meet Jeff Smith. I found Jeff compassionate,
stimulating, and profound. He stirred up passions of controversy
amongst a few of the attendees." Later, I met with Rev. Malcolm
Torry, Director of Citizen's Income Trust. Point being, if you need
another speaker on geonomic topics, keep us in mind.
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9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes for lexophiles from anon.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
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10. Publication affairs: Contributing to this issue
Along with those acknowledged above with each blurb:
Editor: Jeffery J. Smith
Assistant Editor: Caspar Davis
Archivist: Stewart Goldwater
Owner: The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
Founder: Adam Monroe
Send your news and other interesting material to the Georgist News at
jjs at geonomics.org or gn at progress.org. The deadline for the next
issue is August 25.
The Georgist News, a project of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, is
an email newsletter brought to you free of charge. Its purpose is to
keep you updated on the latest news, citations, events, and
initiatives of relevance to people who, like Henry George, seek a
world free from special privilege and the causes of poverty.
Do you know someone who'd enjoy reading the GN? Please forward them an
issue and ask them to subscribe, or send us their eddress. As always,
it's free. Thanks.
The Georgist News is also available on line at
http://www.Georgist.com/
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The Georgist News, Volume Eleven, Number Three, September 1, 2008