Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Geolibertarianism AKA Georgism: The answer to our problems?

Charles Hugh Smith recently posted another interesting article which has been getting passed around the blogosphere:  What’s the Difference Between Fascism, Communism and Crony-Capitalism? Nothing


CHS gets it mostly right, except that a consumption tax is regressive.


Having read voluminously regarding the issue of taxation to support a minimal state, I formed the idea of a land tax (with a high minimum threshold) as the only fair way to:  A)  Collect tax in an unambiguous, non-preferential way and B) Address the issue of vast fortunes amassed over the generations by force, fraud and graft.

Lo and behold, it turns out that I was not the first person to figure this out (shocking!).  Please take a look at Georgism or Geolibertarianism as the (IMO) solution.  Overview:  http://geolib.pair.com/welcome.html also http://www.foldvary.net/

The keys IMO are:

A)  Setting a high minimum threshold for the land tax.  This allows for those that wish to be self-sufficient to live w/o any interference (e.g. your typical Amish/Mennonite farmer),

B)  Setting a maximum for the total national/state tax rate.  A country cannot collect more than about 22% of the total economic output in taxes before it experiences diminishing returns.  The revenue generated would have to be split among federal, state and local, which is a policy issue beyond the scope of this particular post.

C)  The prohibition of government debt.  The reason for that should be self-evident at this juncture in history.


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