MELBOURNE 31 AUGUST
PUT ‘EM TOGETHER AND WHAT HAVE YOU GOT? BIBBETTY, BOBBITTY, BOO!
http://www.theage.com.au/business/spring-in-the-property-market-may-be-a-leap-too-far-20140829-109vrm.html (“But haven’t we reached a permanently high plateau?”)
http://www.theage.com.au/business/banks-demand-bailout-protection-20140829-10a7en.html (“Leave us alone with our failed risk management!”)
[AN ANONYMOUS TREASURER]
SHOULD HOMEOWNERS BE BRACING FOR A DIVE?
ONLINE OPINION
ECONOMIC RENTS MUST BECOME PART OF THE PUBLIC DISCOURSE
I’ve run three of my recent posts together for an article published in Online Opinion today.
Also worthy of note – in today’s AGE:-
AFR INTERVIEWS LINDSAY DAVID
“WHERE’S THE GOLDEN GOOSE?”
In Question Time in the House of Representatives, I just saw Treasurer Joe Hockey ask: “Where’s the Golden Goose that’s going to lay the Golden Egg?”
Just look up “Economic Rent”, Joe. That’ll allow you to abolish punitive taxes on businesses, workers and thrift – and to discover the Golden Egg!
WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT THE MORALITY OF TONY AND JOE?
Yes, as you say Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, we certainly do understand if this rotten budget isn’t passed taxes may have to be increased.
But you won’t acknowledge it’s about FROM WHERE we get our taxes, otherwise you wouldn’t be glorying in the fact that you’re abolishing the mining tax. We NEED a mining tax guys, preferably like the original mining tax which would have brought mining in line with Australia’s non-controversial petroleum tax. Perhaps you might try to explain the difference between a resource rent on mining and one on petrol? Why shouldn’t we seek a fair return on both?
Maybe you’re acting as tools for those speculators in Australia’s land and natural resource rents who have got us into the impending economic devastation? Allowing them to hunker down during the crash?
I know the Labor alternative is also running scared of the Henry Tax Review recommendations fellas, but it would be nice if you’d stop giving Australia’s biggest rent-seekers a free ride whilst you seek to penalise business, workers and the poor.
You’re treating Australians as mugs.
THE REAL REASON AUSTRALIA IS IMPLODING
Ignoring real crisis
Now accompanying every notice of assessment issued by the Tax Office are the figures for the federal government’s gross debt: this year’s ($340 billion); last year’s ($257 billion), and the interest payments on this gross debt ($13.2 billion). No doubt this was mandated by the Treasurer.
While such information is instructive under the government’s narrative of a debt and fiscal crisis, I wonder if the government would mandate disclosure of how much gross private debt Australians owe to financial institutions – $2200 billion – thereby making all aware of the real crisis engulfing us and the rest of the privately indebted world.
Tom Fanning, Blackburn
ECONOMIC RENT MUST BE PART OF THE PUBLIC CONVERSATION
So, if all the economics textbooks have to admit that Henry George was right that revenues from economic rent cannot be passed on in prices like taxes–generating massive deadweight in the economy–how can the 0.1% fight back?
Why by disinformation, of course! By lying to say the quantum of rent is insufficient:-
“The percentage [of property rent in the economy] has dropped to well under one percent today”, New Ideas from Dead Economists: an introduction to modern economic thought, Todd G Buchholz, Plume, 2007, p.86.
“But by 2000 urban land rents represented only four percent of national income”, A Farewell to Alms, Gregory Clark, Princeton University Press, 2007, p.198.
“Rent is one percent of the US income in 2004”, Economics, Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers, 2006, p.283.
“Rental income was 4.7 billion, or 0.079% of GDP in 1992”, Economics (Third Edition), Karl Case and Ray Fair, Prentice Hall, 1994, p.559.
“Rental income is $7.9 billion of a total GNP of $5,234 billion, or 1.5 percent”, Economics: Principles and Policy, Fifth Edition, William J Baumol and Alan S Blinder, Harcourt Brace, 1991, p.137.
“… land rent forms such a small percentage of national income: that 2% is nothing compared to the present tax percentages which is around 30”, Income Distribution, Jan Pen, Pelican, 1974, p.210.
The chart on the previous post gives the lie to these six gross misstatements, as does Karl Fitzgerald’s Total Resource Rents of Australia, 2013, which should have made the headlines all around Australia, but has been buried by the neo-classical economics fraternity who have a lie to uphold for their bosses.
See also post –> How to corrupt the economy in favour of the rent-seeker.
Australians (and others) would do well to demand answers from economists and politicians about the vast quantity of community-created economic rent being privately stolen by the 0.1%, because ignorance on the subject allows the super-wealthy to continue capturing more and more of the GDP at the expense of the 99.9%.