Thanks to Thomas H for emailing me a link to ResPublica's Principles for the Budget 2012:
The Budget opens up a genuine opportunity to address these inequalities, stimulate economic growth and put dormant capital to use. The most effective way of doing this is through taxing wealth* not income. While avoiding the unwanted consequences of high income tax – such for instance as, disincentivising profit maximizing and driving investors off-shore – tax on ‘unearned’ wealth could prove a successful way of raising finance without hampering economic recovery.
A truly radical budget should therefore not only call for a revaluation of the property values unrevised since 1991 and introduce a tax paid in proportion to the value of property; it should also introduce a land value tax to generate extra income. These wealth taxes would have added benefits of stimulating land and property markets, as well as addressing jarring social inequalities.
In this context, it is worth being reminded that nearly 70% of the land in the UK is currently owned by 0.6% of population. These, and related topics, ResPublica intends to explore as part of its research into the Social Mobility agenda in projects such as InterGenerational Covenant.
* Let's deduct a mark for saying "wealth" instead of "community generated rental value of land", but apart from that... wrap me in tinfoil and call me Angela!
Thursday 22 March 2012
Tory think-tank makes surprise move over to The Dark Side
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6 comments:
Land value = 'wealth' .....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!
Re the tinfoil bit - you'll have to discuss that in private with your lady wife...
"In this context, it is worth being reminded that nearly 70% of the land in the UK is currently owned by 0.6% of population."
Is there any way of finding out who these privileged 0.6% are?
L, let's forgive them for confusing the two, easy mistake to make for a beginner.
B, yes, banks own about a third of all land via mortgages.
I think there's a list somewhere of recipients of CAP subsidies, apart from that it's the Queen (in her private capacity, excluding Crown Estates), Prince Charles, Earl Harewood, Land Securities, British Land, all the other usual suspects and Paul Raymond's heirs. Those few people probably own a tenth of all land/land values between them.
Notice how this report did not cite "Robin Smith" for meeting Mr Blond in his office 2 years ago to explain it to him for the first time!
That would mean they owe me wages right? But they want to keep them all being a fake charity.
Also the quote on land owned is using the deceptive stats from the book Who Owns Britain which says land area is the problem.
If you were to make it extremely clear it was the banks or home owners they would run a mile.
Neo Georgism. Do not be fooled.
RS, yes, well done for setting the ball rolling with them.
I personally am delighted with their suggestions - make Council Tax more like Domestic Rates and have land value tax on top. Tax 'unearned wealth' i.e. land more and incomes less. Of all the UK think tanks, and certainly of all the Tory-aligned ones, they've gone the furthest AFAIAA.
Yes, the area stat's are meaningless, the value stat's are more important, but
a) who's to say that the value stat's are that much different, and
b) at least it gets people thinking.
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