I believe we can summarily review the 2014 Brisbane G20 conference by referencing two Australian contributions, namely, that of G20 host, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who set GDP growth as the primary agenda item, and Y20 Co-Chair, Holly Ransom, who spoke of the waste of atrociously high youth unemployment.

Both are certainly valid concerns in a world “recovering” from the global financial crisis.

But what constituted the global financial crisis, or “great recession” as the Americans called it?

Did not most world economies fail because real wealth generation became subsumed by speculative activity in real estate? Was not the bursting of residential bubbles the obvious cause of the financial collapse throughout much of the US and Europe?

So, the process had been one of rent-seeking, seeking capital gains in real estate?

You do understand that rent-seeking collapses economies’ GDP and (especially) youth employment Tony and Holly?

But I failed to hear you use the term “rent-seeking” at the G20 meeting, folks. Maybe I missed it?

May I respectfully suggest most of the world is not going to meet the G20 Communiqué target growth rate of 2.1%, and it will therefore be unable to remediate youth unemployment unless the great problem that rent-seeking poses is on everybody’s lips?

By killing off the mining tax–Kevin Rudd’s Resource Super Profits Tax, Gina–YOU chose to continue privately capturing UNEARNED income, thereby cheating your kids, and ALL Australians.

When you finish reading it, click on it!

Collecting land-based revenue should be terribly simple, and is only otherwise if thinking makes it so.

All that’s needed is a fisc determined to do its duty, and a public informed enough to know that what delinquents withhold will fall on the rest of the public’s backs. Turgot, aware of this business, favored using part of the tax revenues to support public education in this matter.

Post any land whose owner is delinquent – it’s the owner’s duty to oversee her land and pay. Take back any land with unpaid taxes outstanding. “Rights of redemption” have been terribly gamed and abused in the past, and should be minimized, so new owners can have clear title, and put the land to best use right away.

Most tax-delinquents are speculators playing hard-ball with the fisc. To prevail, the fisc must be firm.

• Mason Gaffney, 29 June 2013

Callam Pickering delivers a solid review –>  Go to Google News Australia and search “Australia’s housing policy is a total con-job”.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-government-gives-54-million-to-scotch-college-for-land-previously-valued-at-1-million-20141116-11nr17.html

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/9/wall-street-economyfinancialcrisisrentbackedsecurities.html

THE ECONOMIST

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/11/economist-explains-0

“LVTs would impose concentrated costs on today’s landowners, who face a new tax bill and a reduced sale price. The benefit, by contrast, is spread equally over today’s population and future generations. This problem is unlikely to be overcome. Economists will continue to advocate LVTs, and politicians will continue to ignore them.”