Re: 1911 Reference Book Defines Georgism

On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:54:59 -0500, "lysander@xxxxxxxxxxx"
<lysander@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mark M. wrote:
The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing

The single tax would not fall on all land, but only on valuable land,
and on that in proportion to its value. It would thus be a tax, not on
use or improvements, but on ownership of land, taking what would
otherwise go to the landlord as owner.
...
The single-tax system would, they claim, dispense with a horde of
tax-gatherers, simplify government, and greatly reduce its cost;

Note this is a pipe dream. Read the above statement. We would still need
a horde of assessors to determine what is rent and it would not simplify
government or reduce costs.

Inevitably, that is a lie. Every state of the union already has
enough assessors to administer their taxes on real property value, and
increasing the rate of tax on the land portion self-evidently requires
no more assessors.

This would mean much more complex appraisals
of land then it is today, assuming they want to tax every piece to 0
rent.

Of course, you need to "assume" (i.e., lie) that land taxation
requires the unscientific nonsense of zero tolerance. And you are
also lying that the rent would be reduced to zero, or at all. land
taxation does not affect the rent, only who gets it.

There would have to be a different rate set on each piece of land.

Lie, as already proved.

Fertile Iowa corn land would have to be taxed at different rate than
barren land in SD.

Lie. Same rate, different values.

The current appraisal systems SLGs have to today
would have to be severely upgraded.

True, many jurisdictions have woefully inaccurate assessments, but
that is because of all the contortions and complexities they have
piled on in order to avoid taxing land rent, not because they don't
have enough assessors.

give us
with all the world that absolute free trade which now exists between the
States of the Union:

Not this was written before income taxes and tariff bills were major
issues and sources for government revenue.

Lie. Tariffs were then a major source of US federal government
revenue, and income taxes had been introduced a number of times.

In short tariffs were a big issue up to 1914 when income taxes became
the major source of revenue.

Wrong, inevitably. Income taxes were not the major source of revenue
until WW II.

take
the weight of taxation from agricultural districts, where land has
little or no value apart from improvements, and put it upon valuable
land, such as city lots and mineral deposits.

Again here we go different tax rates.

Lie.

If a flat ad valeroum tax were on
all land then all would have an equal burden in percentage of value.

There is no such thing as an "ad valeroum" tax. But a flat ad valorem
tax on land does indeed impose an equal burden as a fraction of value.

Just because land was taxed would not have created the
stable banking system the Fed started to create in 1914.

The "stable" system that created the Great Depression...

Without banks the land stays in the hands of a few wealthy

Flat false.

and if the traditional
assertions don't hold then they raise rent (money paid to the landlord
not economic rent) to offset the tax.

Again, that is known to be a lie.

I know the Georgist will stay that won't happen but it relies on rigid
assumptions that I posted a lot of arguments and data against.

No, you didn't post any data, that is just another lie; and the
arguments have all been proved fallacious.

-- Roy L
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Land, Labour and Capital Taxation....
    ... > certainly will effect production. ... This tax is ... The problem is that market prices are driven by more than economic rent. ... theory is the best land is settled first. ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Land, Labour and Capital Taxation....
    ... >start to affect decisions of land owners. ... It affects decisions of landowners at any level: the higher the tax, ... >REMAINS HOW DO YOU CALCULATE RENT SO YOU FIND A TAX RATE THAT WILL NOT ... Property taxes in fact have lower administration and compliance costs ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Murray Rothbard on Georgist fallacies
    ... The "Single Tax" on Ground Rent ... the idea that "society" owns the land ... Georgists propose to place a 100-percent annual tax ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Murray Rothbard on Georgist fallacies
    ... The "Single Tax" on Ground Rent ... the idea that "society" owns the land ... Georgists propose to place a 100-percent annual tax ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Land tax -- denying the market matters (Re: better tax code: no income tax, head tax (&#
    ... Of course, supply is the amount of something *brought to market*, not ... always throw about on the potential virtues of a land tax. ... The Georgist claim is that land tax is superior to taxes on labor, ... labor) does not respond to price. ...
    (sci.econ)