Talking about Geoism with Abby Martin; a chance to focus on local collection of Ground Rent in New York City

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http://bit.ly/1mCj93t
 
You can click on the transcript icon if you need the written transcript for some reason.

Abby Martin is a quick study and I hope to have a future chance to appear on her show.  There are more economic reforms.  Maybe next time we can talk about Greenbacks...

They cut about a minute of me talking about our group, Common Ground-NYC's, local efforts, but it was still a good interview and probably an eye-opener to their global audience.  Here is a chance to learn about efforts in NYC to collect the ground rent:

The Source of Prosperity is Under Our Feet: The Land

Why is there so much building in NYC, but so little affordable housing?  Why do so many people want to live and work here, yet the market does not meet the demand?

The answer may be literally beneath our feet, in the collective value of the Land.  The Land is part of the commons that gets its value not from any specific building, but from the demand of all of us who share and contribute to the commons. 

Common Ground-NYC and the Henry George School invite you to a seminar on the effect of under-taxing NYC land and over-taxing its buildings and improvements. 

By replacing the existing tax system with a split-rate tax that taxes land higher than buildings, we will encourage more efficient use of land and more opportunities for development that will provide jobs and businesses for the city.  The split rate tax has been used successfully all over the world to improve communities, ranging from Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, PA, to Singapore and Hong Kong.  It is perhaps the most proven economic theorem in the world.

The seminar will cover local examples of inefficient taxation ranging from McDonalds's (one of the biggest real estate owners in the city) to the new Billionaire's Row on 57 Street.  At the end, participants will know where billions of dollars in city revenues can be found.  They will also understand how only the tax on land can actually spur growth and opportunity, unlike all other taxes that discourage productivity.

The seminar is particularly timely given Mayor Bill de Blasio's and Comptroller Scott Stringer's support for taxing vacant land at higher prices to encourage development .

Action steps given at the end will show activists how they can make New York City a vibrant, livable, sustainable, city for ALL its residents.
 

The seminar will be given at:
The NYC Conference and Seminar Center,
71 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010

6:30-8:30 on February 5. 
It will be recorded for webcasting as well.

 
Please RSVP by registering on meetup.com here:
click here

Authors Website: http://newthinking.blogspot.com/

Authors Bio:

Scott Baker is a Managing Editor & The Economics Editor at Opednews, and a former blogger for Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Global Economic Intersection.

His anthology of updated Opednews articles "America is Not Broke" was published by Tayen Lane Publishing (March, 2015) and may be found here:

http://www.americaisnotbroke.net/

Scott is a former and current President of Common Ground-NY (http://commongroundnyc.org/), a Geoist/Georgist activist group. He has written dozens of articles for Common Ground's national publication, GroundSwell, and has advocated for the Georgist Land Value Tax to public and political audiences.

A complete list of his publications can be found here:

Click Here

He is also New York State Coordinator and Senior Advisor for the Public Banking Institute

Click Here, which seeks to promote Public Banking. The PBI is chaired by another OEN blogger, Ellen Brown.
Scott has appeared on TV/Radio and in in-person Presentations to explain the principles of Georgism, Greenbacking, and State Banking. These may also be found on his personal blog: http://newthinking.blogspot.com/

Scott has a dozen progressive petitions on Change.org which may be found here:

http://chn.ge/10nUAmJ

Scott was an I.T. Manager for a major New York university for over two decades where he earned a Certificate for Frontline Leadership.

He had a video game published in Compute! Magazine: Click Here

Scott is a graduate and adjunct faculty of the Henry George School of Social Science in New York City.

Scott is a modern-day Renaissance Man with interests in economics, science and all future-forward topics.

He has been called an "adept syncretist" by Kirkus Discoveries for his novel, NeitherWorld - a two-volume opus blending Native American myth, archaeological detail, government conspiracy, with a sci-fi flair http://amzn.to/10nUoDV

Scott grew up in New York City and Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and was a member of the Psychology honor society PSI CHI.

Today he is an avid bicyclist and ride co-leader in a prominent bike advocacy organization.

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