BIBLICAL ECONOMICS

“Don’t sell or accumulate land at the expense of others.”

JEWS & CHRISTIANS REPLY

“Get stuffed!”

Brief explanation of land value taxation on Twitter.

When you think about it, JB Clark’s neoclassical economics–founded to put an end to the ideas of Henry George–is not a new classical economics; it’s an anti-classical economics. Arguing that the rent of land may be privatised by companies and individuals turns the classical economists on their heads, because they considered the nation’s surplus product, or economic rent, was the public’s – naturally, and equally.

How did we succumb to accepting this travesty? Mason Gaffney, Fred Harrison and Chris Feder saw it as the ultimate “Corruption of Economics“, a 180 degree turnabout from classical economics.

It appears that any longstanding, decent politico-economic view will eventually become corrupted over time as self-interest begins to gradually eat at the uniting principle upon which it was founded. Is not economic rent the glue which binds societies together in prosperity and freedom, as patiently explained by Henry George? Isn’t poverty unnatural? Does not the increasing privatisation of economic rent explain the political bifurcation that has occurred – to the great detriment of western civilisation?

To further this rationale of turning things on their heads, let’s look at the two main Australia political parties. Who could possibly entertain the thought that Liberal party is now a liberal party? It has become an arch-Tory neoliberal, or anti-liberal, party. The irony of the name is immense. It has done a turn-about. It should be the Neo-Liberal Party!

If to a lesser degree, this is also the case with the Australian Labor Party; the rot began to set in in the 1960s. Bob Hawke’s ALP government took it to another level when he came to adopt the neoliberal economics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has clearly become an anti-labour party; the Neo-Labor Party?

The two parties may be different on public health policy, but are very similar on education, defence and the neoliberal, anti-liberal, economics which aims to achieve balanced budgets at great cost to the public good. Paradoxically, the Albanese government revels in its current surplus, and is commended for being such, if accidentally, by mainstream media. Those acquainted with economic reality see the growing surplus as foreboding a great social ill.

[The only ‘neo’ I find that isn’t ‘anti’ is neo-Malthusianism. Curiously, it is still ‘pro’ the Reverend Malthus. It remains we, the overpopulated, who are generating all our economic ills. Although we appear to be curbing our breeding, it seems we still need to get really fair dinkum about it!]

Commissioner Catherine Holmes has brought down her findings into the ‘Robodebt’ scheme in which algorithms were used to fine Australians on welfare.

It’s my opinion that robo-debt represented the full, and hopefully final, blossoming of the neoliberal putsch that’s dominated the financial lives of Australians since 1983; for 40 years.

The logic of neoliberalism is “Unearned economic rent is ours as individuals. All may aspire similarly, and those who don’t, or won’t, or worse, are on welfare, are a clear enemy, and need to be dealt with.” The implication is that those who are on welfare are scroungers, not those people who are suffering from this failed economic regime.

However, at the heart of neoliberalism is a great hypocrisy. Each one of us is indeed entitled to an equal share in the economic rent, the national net income, but there is no way in which neoliberalism will ever deliver it, so “It must be permitted to flow, as now, to rent-seekers, and if you can work hard enough as an individual to break into that group and become accepted, you may receive your particular share.”

It is only a system which un-taxes people, capturing instead economic rents, that can possibly deliver an equal share of the nation’s net income. That system was described by Henry George and has nothing at all in common with the economic programs of Ayn Rand, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Bob Hawke.

So, has neoliberalism actually peaked with robo-debt? So far, there’s little evidence from the Albanese-Chalmers government that our neoliberally-indebted lives are about to change for the better.

We may hope, but I fear we have a long way to go. Let’s at least trust we’re on the downside peak-madness of rentierism?

Following the American Revolution, after a worthy beginning in the original Articles of Confederation, the United States ended up delivering lands to the new aristocracy.

We’re 28 months out from the economic/financial depression and the Reserve Bank of Australia is concerned about the land price inflation that has generated it. RBA members consider that trying to take the steam out of the economy–helping to crash it?–with interest rate increases may somehow remedy Australian inflation and put us back on course.

It won’t; it can’t, so we’re facing an increasing array of societal problems as a result. The media will address these issues comprehensively, but not their cause.

The real estate cycle will have it way with us all because we’ve not directly addressed the mindless escalation in land price inflation that has been allowed to occur (at the expense of real wealth creation) over the last 50 years. And that’s the job of Australian governments, not of the RBA; but governments are contemptibly frightened of offending banking, real estate and other speculative interests. It has become our way of life, largely because the tax regime fosters it. So why swim against the tide? Just ‘let it be’ – as the song goes.

So we may expect, not the recession that commentators and analysts are suggesting will occur this year or next, but a final speculative frenzy in real estate activity up into the 2026 peak of the 18-year real estate cycle.

Of course, all the earnest media analysis and commentary will continue over the next 28 months but, although there may be urgers and touts in real estate, many people therein have a better grip on things than economists who fail to see that real estate activity, not productivity, has been permitted to lead and direct the economy.

It can be quite boring and isolating seeing what’s taking place when mainstream analysts can’t, or won’t, because of the acrimony that it might generate in the Australian speculative environment.

So, onward, onto the bubble-burst it is, folks!

First Tuesday. Today’s the day of the month that the Reserve Bank of Australia decides what to do with our interest rates.

Let’s see; we have banking, real estate, media and politicians all trying to pump residential real estate prices (land prices) to the moon–and economists alleging this has nothing to do with inflation–so now the RBA desperately trying to fix it is like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube.

There’s a touch of irony in there somewhere?

Also USA Independence Day, of course. Looking forward to US independence from the neoliberalism that’s taken hold in world economies! VIMMLBUTT anybody?

Kindergarten: First Day

Hello, Boys and Girls. I’m your Master, so I take the ‘rent’. After I have my rent, what is left is yours. We call this your ‘wages’.

Now, the government needs to build things and to keep them working; such as roads, schools, hospitals, power and water. OK? We call this ‘infrastructure’. Infra-structure: that’s a big word, isn’t it? So, we may need to take a little from your wages to pay for infrastructure.

The bit that comes out of your wages is called ‘taxation’. Taxation is also needed to protect the value of the money, or ‘currency’, that you may have left to spend from your wages. If you don’t have any money left to spend, you may borrow some from a bank. A bank will lend you some.

OK, boys and girls; that’s how things work. So, do you have any questions?