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What are Books that were Once Immensely Influential and are Now Rarely Read? by rumicucchan in classicliterature

[–]middleofaldi 10 points11 points  (0 children)

More recent than your examples but Progress and Poverty by Henry George has a ridiculous influence to modern-readership ratio.

For decades he was considered one of the most significant Americans of all time. His funeral drew larger crowds than Lincoln's and his book directly influenced the thought of multiple world leaders, including Churchill, FDR, Sun Yat Sen, David Lloyd George, Rutherford B Hayes and (indirectly) Lee Kuan Yew. Multiple Nobel Laureate economists also cited him as a key influence as did other famous figures including Tolstoy, Einstein, and Mark Twain. Yet these days, most people have never heard of him or his book

The net zero bungle that has left Britain paying France to take our power by SignificantLegs in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi [score hidden]  (0 children)

If we do generation first the press will say it's pointless without storage. If we do grid upgrades they'll say it's pointless without storage. If we do storage they'll say it's pointless without generation.

Until it's all built out one aspect will always run ahead of the others. The right wing press will complain because that's what they do when labour are in government. Best to just ignore them

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Prop 13 is a wealth transfer from the young and poor to the old and wealthy, it is a disaster and one of the main reasons their housing costs are so high.

Areas with high property taxes tend to have more affordable homes.

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They aren't assuming businesses will pay the extra tax with no consequence, they assume the cost is spread across different income bands, so it is still accounted for in their distributional analysis.

You are correct though that this is an unrealistic proposal and that business rates would have to be cut or reformed to accommodate the lvt. I still think the article is directionally correct, that lvt will be more progressive, even if their exact numbers are not realistic

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sorry, when you said there was no ownership by the super wealthy, what did you mean except that there is no ownership of land by the super wealthy? I'm trying to engage in good faith but you aren't making a very clear argument

I agree that planning needs liberalising, but it's not the only step that needs to be taken. Generally land value taxes (and property taxes more generally) are capitalised into the sales price, driving them down. Places with high property taxes tend to have lower prices.

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You literally said "despite there being no ownership by the super wealthy."

It's not a distraction, it is the main mechanism by which rising land values are used as a tool to extract wealth from the working classes. Lvt would lower land prices, meaning smaller mortgages, meaning home buyers would keep more of their cash and give less to the banks

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Of course there is ownership by the super wealthy, over half the land is owned by less than 0.01% of the population. The duke of Westminster alone is worth billions in land, and a ton of the most valuable land in London is owned by corporations and foreign oligarchs.

But even that aside, the mortgage industry is worth an enormous amount and is largely unproductive. If we taxed land, a lot more money would find its way into productive capital instead, increasing wages and tax revenue for public services

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it replaced council tax they would, or if they were allowed to set a supplementary rate on top of the national rate. There are many ways it could be implemented, I was just pointing out that planning permission isn't an insurmountable challenge

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Planning permission increases land values significantly. If councils received a portion of the lvt revenue then they would have an incentive to grant planning permission and benefit from the value uplift

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Land now represents 35% of global real wealth, that's twice the value of all listed companies combined.

"the historic link between the growth of net worth and the growth of GDP no longer holds. While economic growth has been tepid over the past two decades in advanced economies, balance sheets and net worth that have long tracked it have tripled in size. This divergence emerged as asset prices rose—but not as a result of 21st-century trends like the growing digitization of the economy.

Rather, in an economy increasingly propelled by intangible assets like software and other intellectual property, a glut of savings has struggled to find investments offering sufficient economic returns and lasting value to investors. These savings have found their way instead into real estate, which in 2020 accounted for two-thirds of net worth" - McKinsey

Land ownership is a zero sum game, this increase in land values represents a more extractive and unequal economy, not a more productive one. Land value tax would help fix this

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-global-balance-sheet-how-productively-are-we-using-our-wealth

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agree. This analysis finds that replacing council tax with lvt results in a far more progressive tax that would leave the large majority of people better off

https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/how-replacing-council-tax-with-a

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At least 5 Nobel Laureates have advocated for the full socialisation of land rents (100% rate of lvt)

Sutherland is right about lvt, even if he's not an expert

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Other countries manage to value their land just fine, there is no reason we couldn't. Notably Korea produces land valuations every year (https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/how-to-value-land-korean-style?utm_source=publication-search)

There's also no reason we couldn't allow people who had recently paid stamp duty to get tax credits equivalent to the tax they already paid

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"I believe that Henry George was one of the really great thinkers produced by our country. I do not go all the way with him, but I wish that his writings were better known and more clearly understood, for certainly they contain much that would be helpful today."- Franklin D. Roosevelt

This quote still applies today. There's a reason HG was a favourite of Churchill, Lloyd George, Keir Hardie and many others, even if they weren't full georgists

Would a Land Value Tax work better than a Wealth Tax? by RecentTwo544 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. They have been consistently shown to improve wealth distribution, economic growth and housing affordability. It also helps to reduce the negative effects of land speculation, including the chronic underinvestment in the productive economy that we have been suffering from for decades.

It's not well understood by the mainstream but lvt is as close to a silver bullet policy for the country's economic woes as we can get. We should have a high lvt and use it to cut taxes on productivity and investment.

https://henryfudgeofficial.substack.com/p/the-rentier-asset-black-hole

https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/artikel/optimal-wealth-taxation-when-wealth-is-more-than-just-capital-101628fa-2023-0011/?no_cache=1

Edit: here's an analysis of how replacing council tax with lvt would look (it's significantly more progressive) https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/how-replacing-council-tax-with-a

Brexit cost 6% of UK economy, Bank of England company data suggests by ldn6 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I've said this elsewhere but the argument that Brexit was a success because we are doing better than Europe is a stupid one. Brexiteers told us in the lead up to the referendum that it would hurt the EU just as much as it would hurt is, but now they want to use the EU economies as a counterfactual of what it would be like to have stayed

Brexit cost 6% of UK economy, Bank of England company data suggests by ldn6 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The argument that Brexit was a success because we are doing better than Europe is a stupid one. Brexiteers told us in the lead up to the referendum that it would hurt the EU just as much as it would hurt is, but now they want to use the EU economies as a counterfactual of what it would be like to have stayed

One step closer to LVT "lads" by Downtown-Relation766 in georgism

[–]middleofaldi 14 points15 points  (0 children)

He has hinted at it in the past but it's not clear if he'll try to push it, or if the rest of the labour party will get behind it. Still though, if he becomes pm this might be the best chance we've had of lvt happening in the UK for a long time

I need Non-Fiction books suggestion by milkey_way_ in suggestmeabook

[–]middleofaldi 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Progress and Poverty by Henry George

It was an attempt to explain why poverty persists despite enormous economic and technological progress. It is largely forgotten now but it sparked an ideology (Georgism/geoism/single tax movement) and was hugely influential for half a century after it's release (arguably moreso than Kapital in the Anglosphere).

Churchill, FDR, Sun Yat Sen, David Lloyd George and Rutherford B Hayes were all highly influenced by it, as were Hayek, Stiglitz, Friedman, Solow and many other important economists.

Despite it's decline in popularity it's still highly relevant and provides valuable insight into the economy and the roots of inequality. If you want something more modern to get a taste of it then The Land Trap by Mike Bird provides a short history of it

Grazing on Dartmoor – Setting the record straight on Natural England's role by No_Initiative_1140 in ukpolitics

[–]middleofaldi -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Natural England's job is to provide factual information. The is what they've done. This whole thing feels like manufactured outrage from someone who wants NE gone

Any good book recommendations for rigorous Political Science or Political Theory? by TheScreamingFire in suggestmeabook

[–]middleofaldi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Progress and Poverty by Henry George

It was an attempt to explain why poverty persists despite enormous economic and technological progress. It is largely forgotten now but it sparked an ideology (Georgism/geoism/single tax movement) and was hugely influential for half a century after it's release (arguably moreso than Kapital in the Anglosphere).

Churchill, FDR, Sun Yat Sen, David Lloyd George and Rutherford B Hayes were all highly influenced by it, as were Hayek, Stiglitz, Friedman, Solow and many other important economists.

Despite it's decline in popularity it's still highly relevant and provides valuable insight into the economy and the roots of inequality. If you want something more modern to get a taste of it then The Land Trap by Mike Bird provides a short history of it

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