The matter that labor converts into wealth comes only from land.
There must be land before labor can be exerted.
And labor must be exerted before capital can be produced.
Capital is a result of labor, a form of labor, a subdivision of the general term. It is only stored-up labor, used by labor to assist it in further production. Labor is the active and initial force.
Therefore, labor is the employer of capital, not vice versa — and it is even possible for labor to produce wealth without being aided by capital.
So the natural order is this: land, labor, capital.
Instead of using capital as our initial point, we should start from land.
– Henry George, “PROGRESS AND POVERTY – An inquiry into the cause of industrial depressions and of increase of want with increase of wealth … The Remedy”
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OK, so how is it that those who privatise our land income fare much better than those who actually create our wealth? (i.e. labor and capital)
Perhaps we’ve permitted capitalism’s distributional system to be terminally distorted by the one percent’s rent-seeking in publicly-generated land income?
That was Henry George’s conclusion, and he was THE expert on economic depression, the subject of this blogsite. Note the sub-title of his PROGRESS AND POVERTY (above).
You say we need more funds to tackle poverty, homelessness, health, the environment, education and infrastructure? I say instituting the Henry Tax Review is a BIG step towards solving those problems.