Energy and Conservation -- The monopoly of natural resources is the root cause of high energy prices, widespread waste and inefficiency of energy use, and possibly irreversible changes in the earth's climate. Acknowledging that all individuals have the right to these resources is the first step toward sustainable energy production and better conservation policies.
Inflation -- Many factors contribute to inflation: government waste, deficit spending, monopolistic and speculative rises in the price of land, and over-expansion of the money supply. Most of these problems stem from the unhealthy incentives of today's tax systems. To the degree implemented, the Single Tax would eliminate these causes of inflation.
Development and Land Reform --The world's resources, if used wisely and efficiently, will comfortably and sustainably support all people. Instead, these resources are squandered by a small minority. Georgist reforms would give landless people an opportunity to produce for themselves instead of for a privileged few, ending the hunger and poverty incorrectly ascribed to overpopulation.
War and Peace -- The world is in transition. The "Cold War" no longer dominates international politics, but still the social problems remain. World security is disturbed by struggles over territory and natural resources. These problems cannot be solved until we recognize that the Earth belongs to all. The Georgist philosophy offers a practical way to achieve equal access to nature, true free trade, cooperation and peace.
Application and Influence The Single Tax movement wielded considerable influence, and led to numerous partial applications of George's reform. Early Georgists spurred reforms in the assessment and taxation of real property, especially the scientific assessment of land. George's ideas also influenced public land policy.
The three townships of Arden in Delaware are Single Tax communities where only land rent is paid for local revenue. Today's growing use of the Community Land Trust as a means of providing access to rural and urban land is a direct continuation of these and other Single Tax experiments.
Monopoly was originally designed to teach Georgist economics. Elizabeth Magie Phillips first patented her Landord's Game in 1904. It was identical in layout and rules to today's Monopoly -- with one big difference: players could vote to switch, and play the game by single tax rules. Called "Prosperity," it resulted in; every player winning money anytime another gained a property. And the game was won by everyone playing only when the person with the least doubled their resources. It was a game of collaboration and social good. The second set of rules was called "Monopoly", where players succeeded by taking properties and rent from those with less luck rolling the dice. The winner was the person who used their power to eliminate everyone else. Magie's mission was to teach how different we feel when playing Prosperity vs Monopoly, hoping that it would one day change national policies.
Pittsburgh and nineteen other Pennsylvania cities tax land at higher rates than buildings with good economic results, as do some cities in Western Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In Denmark, local and national "land dues" helped to keep agricultural land holdings small, decentralized and highly productive. Georgist principles also figured in the land reforms of Taiwan and Japan. Alberta and Alaska are outstanding examples of public collection of rents and royalties on natural resources, notably oil, to the benefit of all citizens.
Land value taxation has been endorsed by organizations such as the Urban Land Institute, the Heartland Institute, the American Institute for Economic Research, and others.
In 1991, Nobel prize-winners Franco Modigliani, James Tobin, Robert Solow and William Vickrey joined 26 other prominent economists in signing an open letter to Mikhail Gorbachev which urged the Soviet Union to retain land in public ownership, and to raise government revenue by charging rent for its use.
The Georgist movement is unlike other "advocacy groups" in many interesting ways. Adherents come from across the political spectrum. The Georgist philosophy can be viewed as a fundamental synthesis of the best of "left" and "right": a reconciliation of justice and efficiency in economic relations. Due to the far-reaching implications of this philosophy, activity is pursued on many fronts, including activism in support of local property tax reform, popular education, research, publishing, and community and global networking.
Various organizations, groups and periodicals exist to promote Georgist philosophy and/or public re-venue based on land values. These organizations are engaged in various types of programs, most notably:
- Education in the fundamentals of Georgist philosophy and analysis.
- Activities to promote public support for land value taxation and the legislation necessary to implement this reform.
- Research into the role of land in the economy, the techniques of assessment and the suitability of rent as a tax base.
- Publication and exchange of ideas, to develop alliances, ideas and programs.
This chapter is from The Council of Georgist Organizations website. A 6 minute video about Earth Rights Economics can be viewed here.
-CHAPTER 11 A Brief History of How We Lost the Commons by Jay Walljasper
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