One last month of winter in the North. Any reason to still be ware
of the Ides? Probably not but do be alert to the opportunities to
advance. Meanwhile, welcome aboard to new subscribers Wendell
Fitzgerald, ex-Chevron exec and current head of the Henry George
School in San Francisco, and David Harrell of the UK. If you know
anyone who'd happily be a reader, please put them in touch.
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CONTENTS:
1. News: NZ PM; Guarding wealth, a common job in the US;
Grabbing land is common everywhere
2. Good Press: Irish Independent; Discussion groups;
Many commentators using "Citizens Dividend"
3. Numbers: African Region Lacking Taxes
4. Movement Progress: ERI Response to Haiti Crisis
5. Letters: Oz Newsletter; Econamici; SCI
6. Obituary: Honoring Gene
7. Likable links: NZ Land Tax heats up; "Nobelist" Herbert Simon
8. What You Can Do: Write Canada; Forward to state legislators;
Petition to tax land; Nominate Georgists for Revere Award;
Attend IU Conference
9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes
10. Publication affairs: Contributors, About the Georgist News
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2010 Conference Theme Announced
by Sue Walton, February 17, 2010
The Planning committee for the 2010 CGO Conference is pleased to
announce that it has selected: Extending Our Reach: New Tools,
Strategies and Partnerships as its theme.
Two sessions you don't want to miss at the 2010 Conference in Albany
are: Paul Bray & Nic Tideman on "The Public Trust Doctrine and its
Relevance Today." This session will be held on Tuesday afternoon,
July 13th. Another must see session will be our Wednesday supper
speaker Ray Bromley, of the State University of New York Albany who
will speak on "Sprawl Development in the Context of World Cities."
He will have some PowerPoint slides to show too, probably aerial
photos or satellite images.
CGO will be printing only a limited number of conference brochures;
instead the entire conference brochure will be available on our
website as of April 1, 2010. The CGO web address is:
www.cgocouncil.org/conference. For more information please contact:
Sue & Scott: sns at swwalton.com
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1a. News: New Zealand's PM renews national LVT
by Anne Gibson, NZ Herald, January 20, 2010
(via reader Joshua Vincent)
Tax report takes aim at property investors
http://tinyurl.com/yjtw7kh
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1b. News: Guarding wealth, a common job in the US;
Grabbing land is common everywhere
To keep up with the latest in the world of economic justice, try
visiting the daily news site, the Progress Report. You'll find such
articles as:
Guarding wealth is a common job (1 in 4 Yanks do it). Could sharing
the commonwealth become a popular cause?
"What's It Going to Take to Share the Surplus?"
http://www.progress.org/2010/santafe.htm
Madonna, a Russian farmer, and a president's brother all grab for
land, whether justified or just greedy.
"Karzai's Brother Tied To Corrupt Afghan Land Deals"
http://www.progress.org/2010/karzai.htm
Sending the progress.org link to friends, family, neighbors, and
co-workers is a great way to establish a shared frame of reference
for a discussion about how to solve economic issues.
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2a. Good Press: Irish Independent
January 29 2010 (via reader Stewart Goldwater)
Tax to improve plans
A new land-value tax is the best system to support good planning....
http://tinyurl.com/ygomzvd
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2b. Good Press: the New London Day
by the editor if The Day, February 28 2010
(via reader Josh Vincent)
NL should not pass on tax-reform chance:
http://www.theday.com/article/20100228/OP01/302289883
Josh Vincent notes: The local paper helps battle the entrenched
interests in this editorial. Neighborhoods want LVT, builders want
LVT, and small business wants LVT. Yet, a small coterie holds LVT at
bay. Add a comment! By practicing at the local level (and winning),
we are preparing for eventual victory at the state, provincial or
national level.
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2c. Good Press: Lively discussion groups
(via Google Alerts)
City-Data.com forum has 700,000 participants, some of whom recently
discussed shifting the property tax off buildings, onto land
(February 9). The Franklin Party also discussed the tax with the
"citizens dividend", too, as did the Libertarian Party (February
10), and the Smart Tax Network (February 26). Reddit, a source for
what's new and popular online, had a similar discussion, citing the
CD (February 5).
Editor notes: Dear reader, if you note an article you want the world
to read, send it to us, we'll reprint it, and since we get over a
million readers a year (the first Georgist website to achieve that
plateau), then major search engines such as Google will find it yet
again. Don't keep our mind-blowing light under a bushel basket.
Utilize the media that you own and exists to serve you!
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3. Numbers: African Region Lacking Taxes
Want all the current indicators in one place? Periodically, The
Progress Report publishes just such an article. To give readers
greater breadth, depth, and the most salient facts, many articles at
the Progress Report are not single articles but compilations on one
theme, offering a compendium of data on one sector:
China could fail soon, and, if it does, the world's most populous
state will drag the rest of us down.
"China cuts US Treasury holdings"
http://www.progress.org/2010/reserves.htm
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4. Movement Progress: ERI Response to Haiti Crisis
by Alanna Hartzok, alanna at earthrights.net, Earth Rights Insti,
February 19, 2010
Earth Rights Institute co-director Anne Goeke appeals for funds for
water filters, greatly needed for people affected by the earthquake
in Haiti. You can correspond with her directly via email: annie at
earthrights.net Funds can be sent via the course PayPal or by mail
here: Earth Rights Institute, P.O.Box 5404, Santa Monica, CA 90409
USA
Ame Johnson of PROUT New York (Progressive Utilization Theory) and
Alanna Hartzok, Earth Rights Institute compiled 14 points for
rebuilding Haiti in order to build a just society with basic needs
secured for all.
www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2010/01/a_green_tax_shi.html
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5a. Letter: Latest Oz Newsletter
by Karl Fitzgerald, k2 at earthsharing.org.au , February 14, 2010
In the Earthsharing Australia email newsletter of February, read
about Asset Bubbles Forever, a New Job Available, and more.
To see it, write the e-ddress above.
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5b. Letter: Deficit Hawk, Progressive Style
by Polly Cleveland , Columbia U, February 3, 2010
As the national debt balloons, the deficit hawks have swooped in
again, crying for "fiscal responsibility." According to C. Fred
Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, that
means restricting or cutting spending on "entitlements": Medicare,
Medicaid and Social Security, and imposing a national consumption
tax. And now President Obama has heard their cries--and proposes to
freeze discretionary spending--except for the military!
The hawks' concern is justified. But their policy conclusions don't
follow.... Continued at: http://tinyurl.com/yf2zgds
I send Econamici -- occasional emails with interesting attachments
or links -- to friends who are economists or care about economic
issues.
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5c. Letter: Updates from the School of Cooperative Individualism
by Ed Dodson, ejdodson at comcast.net, February 24, 2010
Email me for a copy of the updates.
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6. Obituary: Honoring Gene
by Heather Remoff, nadstoner at aol.com, February 25, 2010
Gene Remoff died peacefully on February 23rd, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. He
was just a few days shy of his 77th birthday. I was with him at the
instant of death and he died as he had lived, in the midst of
laughter. The cause of death was 4th stage pancreatic cancer.
By the end of next week, there will be an interactive Web site
honoring Gene at the funeral home. Given that his many hundreds of
friends, family, and loved ones are so geographically scattered, we
will be doing a virtual, interactive, memorial service through
Cambridgeside Funeral Home.
We are asking that all those who want to do something hold off until
I've had a chance to write up a tribute to his life and explain what
his final wishes were. There are so many details to attend to right
now that the Web site probably won't be in place until the end of
next week, maybe by March 6th.
Please let those who know and love Gene to wait until then to
contact www.cambridgesidefuneralhome.com
Thanks so much for helping me in this way. Love, Heather
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7a. Likable link: NZ Land Tax heats up
by Karl Fitzgerald, Earthsharing Australia, February 23, 2010
Have a listen to this killer interview: Bernard Hickey on nine to
noon on why NZ PM John Key has locked a generation out of housing
following their tax review
www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/20100210
top link in the page above, 24 mins of evidence that our
knowledgebase survives.
Bernard's website:
www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/tag/housing-report/
Thanks to an excited Rayna for finding this.
Background: www.prosper.org.au/2009/12/05/nz-tax-justice-move/
I've jabbed our kiwi buddies on this.
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7b. Likable link: "Nobelist" Herbert Simon
by John Sorrentino, Temple U, February 1, 2010
Among his earliest influences, Herbert Simon ("Nobel" laureate) has
cited Richard Ely's economics textbook, Norman Angell's The Great
Illusion, and Henry George's Progress and Poverty at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Simon.
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8a. What You Can Do: Write Canadaby Josh Vincent, Executive Director,
Henry George Foundation USA/Center for the Study of Economics,
February 16, 2010
Steven Cord went to Canada to try and help a town. Let's support him
and the cause. Comment! Now!
www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2445158
www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2010/02/inord-080210.aspx
If the sites are closed for comment, perhaps people could write
fresh letters to the eds.
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8b. What You Can Do: Forward this to your state legislators by Josh
Vincent, Executive Director, Henry George Foundation USA/Center for
the Study of Economics, February 1, 2010
The Henry George Foundation of America provides model Legislation
that can be used in the states listed, or adapted to use in other
states or to permit localities to use the progressive form of the
property tax known as land value taxation. We are available to
discuss "best practice" legislation and how best to guide the
process to fruition. Please contact us at your earliest opportunity.
http://www.ourcommonwealth.org/efforts/legislation-enabling-lvt
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8c. What You Can Do: Petition to Tax Land to Return its value to the
Community by Scott Baker, February 1, 2010
Please take a few minutes to sign the online petition to Tax Vacant
& Unused Land to Return its value to the Community at:
http://tinyurl.com/yzv5el3
When you do, your e-letter will be sent to New York's State
representatives, the Governor, Scott Stringer (Borough President),
City Council Leader Christine Quinn, and Council member Dan
Garodnick, urging them to support bills to inventory vacant and
unused land and tax landlords who don't use it. A related bill has
already passed the State Assembly, now we just need three companion
bills to pass for true Land Value Tax reform!
At the new Common Ground - NYC Google Group, people can engage in
Georgist discussions, initiate action steps, and post relevant
files. Don't forget to sign up.
http://groups.google.com/group/common-ground-nyc
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8d. What You Can Do: Nominate Georgists for the Revere Award
by Chuck Metalitz, February 23, 2010
There was a thread here a year or so ago asking who predicted the
current collapses. Now there is a prize offered by an organization
which does not identify itself as Georgist.
The economics establishment has attempted to evade responsibility
for the Global Financial Collapse by calling it an unpredictable,
"Black Swan" event. But in fact some non-neoclassical economists
foresaw the crisis and warned the public of its approach. The Revere
Award aims to give these economists the professional and public
recognition that they deserve, to encourage others to utilize their
methods, and to increase the likelihood that, for the benefit of
humankind, empirically responsible economists will be listened to in
the future.
Michael Hudson is already listed.
Evidently one has to subscribe to the blog in order to make a
comment-nomination.
http://rwer.wordpress.com/?page_id=922&preview=true
where it says "email subscription".
Dr Fred Foldvary (Sta Clara U) lists his works on the crash at:
http://www.foldvary.net/works/crash08.html
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8e. What You Can Do: Attend London, April 26-30, IU Conference
by Megan Ashcroft and Ross Ashcroft, megan at theiu.org,
ross at Motherlode.org.uk
Join The IU for its 5 day conference in Central London addressing
the global economic issues that affect all of our lives.
International keynote speakers will enlighten and inform.
Location: The School of Economic Science, London
Time & Date: Monday, April 26th to Friday April 30th
Further Details: www.theIU.org or office at theIU.org
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9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes
When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
- The wisdom of Larry the cable guy
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that,
deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
- Dave Barry, 19 Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn
If we do not permit the Earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in
the end not produce food either.
- Joseph Wood Krutch
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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: Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
Founder: Adam Monroe
Send your news and other interesting material to the Georgist News,
jjs at geonomics.org or gn at progress.org. The deadline for the next
issue is the 25th of this month.
The Georgist News, a project of 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 online: www.Georgist.com/
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The Georgist News, Volume Twelve, Number Nine, March 1, 2010