Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
– George Santayana
The banks funded land price bubbles in the 1880s.
We had a depression in the 1890s.
We said we’d regulate banks so it couldn’t happen again in the 1890s.
We had a world war from 1914 to 1918.
The banks funded land price bubbles in the 1920s.
We had a depression in the 1930s.
We said we’d regulate banks so it couldn’t happen again in the late 1920s.
We had a world war from 1939 to 1945.
The banks funded land price bubbles in the 2000s.
We’re experiencing another depression now.
We’re saying we’ll regulate banks so it can’t happen again.
We will ….
Early warnings:-
1880s: “Progress and Poverty: An inquiry into the cause of industrial depressions and of increase of want with increase of wealth … The Remedy” – Henry George
1930s: “There never was a time when the need was greater than it is today for the application of the philosophy and principles of Henry George to the economic and political conditions which are scourging the whole world. The root cause of the world’s economic distress is surely obvious to every man who has eyes to see and a brain to understand. So long as land is a monopoly, and men are denied free access to it to apply their labor to its uses, poverty and unemployment will exist. Permanent peace can only be established when men and nations have realized that natural resource should be a common heritage, and used for the good of all mankind…. I am of the opinion that rent belongs to society and that no single person has the right to appropriate and enjoy what belongs to society.” – First Viscount Philip Snowden
2000s: “In the light of empirical facts suggesting that there is, in fact, a reciprocal relationship between real estate investment and the creation of wealth, in other words, between rent seeking and a nation’s economic health, Henry George’s remedy still awaits trial application. It is not only politicians, but leaders also of business, public instrumentalities and the churches who should be alarmed at the urgency of these economic signals. History will surely condemn their complacency should they fail to look at the extraordinary employment opportunities to be gained by shifting taxes off production and onto resource holding.” – Bryan Kavanagh