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ndrosenAfter Open Mike on Saturday, July 29, we had "Theories of Rent Distribution," with Jeff Graubart and Nic Tideman. First there was a video from Jeff Graubart, which went by quickly; more of his stuff is available at AFFEERCE.org. He wants to distribute land rents equally to everyone in the world.
Dan Sullivan said that land value taxes in Watts would be paid not just by people in Watts, but by people in Beverly Hills.
Professor Tideman spoke, and said that we've been trying to popularize and implement Georgist ideas, but we face blockages. For example, people ask, "Why do you want to pick on those who own land?"
Land titles are ultimately traceable to government force, confiscation, expulsion, and genocide. One economist, Frank Knight, a professor at the University of Chicago, defended this, taking the position that land titles are created by human effort, namely the effort of killing or driving out the previous inhabitants. Most people don't want to see it quite that way.
Some things should be shared, while exclusive access is proper for others; the exclusive access should be proportionate to the number of people enjoying the access.
There is an unresolved question, since land rents are due not just to nature, in which we are all entitled to share, but to government services and benefits created by the presence of a particular community. New York City land rent, for example, is due to location, but also to streets, subways, police, etc.; these rents need not be shared with everyone in the world. In the Rio Grande valley, nature is similar on both sides of the border, but there is a difference in governance, making average incomes and land rents higher on the U.S. side.
To countries: How certain are you that you're not taking more than your share?
Georgism is similar to the effort to end slavery, trying to change people's minds about what it is possible to own legitimately, and what it is not. In the American colonies, beginning in the 1740's, the Quakers gradually changed. The Paynes of North Carolina, Dolley Madison's parents, freed their slaves in 1783, and became rather poor as a result.
What can we do as individuals? Ask ourselves if we are using more than our share of natural resources: if so, calculate and share. Trying to be carbon neutral can lead to trying to be resource proportional.
He has the idea of a website to help people figure it out.
Changing the ideas of individuals may lead to changing politics.
And that's how Professor Tideman thinks we can get from here to there.
Dan Sullivan said that land value taxes in Watts would be paid not just by people in Watts, but by people in Beverly Hills.
Professor Tideman spoke, and said that we've been trying to popularize and implement Georgist ideas, but we face blockages. For example, people ask, "Why do you want to pick on those who own land?"
Land titles are ultimately traceable to government force, confiscation, expulsion, and genocide. One economist, Frank Knight, a professor at the University of Chicago, defended this, taking the position that land titles are created by human effort, namely the effort of killing or driving out the previous inhabitants. Most people don't want to see it quite that way.
Some things should be shared, while exclusive access is proper for others; the exclusive access should be proportionate to the number of people enjoying the access.
There is an unresolved question, since land rents are due not just to nature, in which we are all entitled to share, but to government services and benefits created by the presence of a particular community. New York City land rent, for example, is due to location, but also to streets, subways, police, etc.; these rents need not be shared with everyone in the world. In the Rio Grande valley, nature is similar on both sides of the border, but there is a difference in governance, making average incomes and land rents higher on the U.S. side.
To countries: How certain are you that you're not taking more than your share?
Georgism is similar to the effort to end slavery, trying to change people's minds about what it is possible to own legitimately, and what it is not. In the American colonies, beginning in the 1740's, the Quakers gradually changed. The Paynes of North Carolina, Dolley Madison's parents, freed their slaves in 1783, and became rather poor as a result.
What can we do as individuals? Ask ourselves if we are using more than our share of natural resources: if so, calculate and share. Trying to be carbon neutral can lead to trying to be resource proportional.
He has the idea of a website to help people figure it out.
Changing the ideas of individuals may lead to changing politics.
And that's how Professor Tideman thinks we can get from here to there.
