From: I
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2017 12:27 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Some Georgist Arguments
Dear Mr. Block: I know why economic redistribution with the single tax and the abolition of all rents does not work. However, I cannot see why the basic georgist argument that the increase in economic prosperity would necessitate an increase in land value cancelling out that economic gain in large part is wrong. This is of course immoral if we take a perspective that is in accordance to libertarian ethics, but how would ceasing to take gains that are explicitly from land ownership (the profit from land speculation that is more than the cost of seeking and selling land, the value added by the land value to production, etc) not increase economic efficiency? This has been a hard question for me to resolve, and I would be immensely grateful if I could get a proper answer.
First, what is the Rothbard Rule? It is that non adherents of the full free enterprise philosophy tend to specialize in what they are worst in. Fellow traveling critics of anarcho-capitalism such as Henry George were pretty good on almost every aspect of political economy, except for a single tax on land. And, what did George specialize in? A single tax on land. Milton Friedman is yet another example. He was sound as a bell on minimum wages, rent control, occupational licensure (heroically, even for doctors!), full free trade, but what did he spend most of his time and effort on? Money and school vouchers, where he was awful.
As to Georgeism, read this material:
Rothbard, Murray N. 1997. “The single tax: economic and moral implications” and “A reply to Georgist criticisms,” Logic of Action One: Applications and Criticisms from the Austrian School. London: Elgar, pp. 294-310; http://mises.org/rothbard/georgism.pdf; https://mises.org/library/single-tax-economic-and-moral-implications
September 8, 2014. Walter E. Block Debate on Henry George’s 100% tax on land with Fred Foldvary. Daniel Rothschild [mailto: [email protected]], moderator. [email protected]; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir9471FNsh0
12:57 pm on June 9, 2017
