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Wealth and Want | |||||||
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Green
Taxes
Karl Williams: Land Value Taxation: The Overlooked But Vital Eco-Tax Land value taxation (LVT)
has often been omitted from the lists of natural resources for which
eco-taxes are being advocated. LVT provides strong financial
encouragement for land to be put to its optimal use and will eliminate
speculation on land, as occupants must pay the full LVT whether the
land is being fully utilised or not. This leads to better land
management, a reduction in urban sprawl, less urban smothering of
agricultural land, and less farmland being pushed into hinterland.
LVT makes the investment in resource-efficient infrastructure affordable because the resulting enhanced land values are "recycled" back into public coffers. One particular application of LVT to agricultural land provides much-needed financial incentives for organic farming. Unlike other ecotaxes which "sow the seeds of their own revenue demise," LVT actually increases over time as our environment is enhanced and is thus a stable revenue base. This paper argues that the LVT assessment process shifts and refines our focus from monitoring human activity onto our use and abuse of natural resources, as any responsible form of stewardship should. It suggests that only if land users are prepared to pay the full cost of utilising resources should private resource holding be permitted. "The depletion of natural
resources and
the despoliation of nature is due to a single reason: the failure
properly to measure the rental value of all of nature's resources, and
to make the users pay the community for the benefits they receive." F.
Harrison, "The Corruption of Economics" read the entire
article
Peter Barnes: Capitalism 3.0 — Chapter 3: The Limits of Government (pages 33-48)
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