Fwd: Are Canberrans really smarter and wealthier? Or are they just better at tax...?

[Frank de Jong]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Prosper Australia <off...@prosper.org.au>
Date: Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 3:00 AM
Subject: Are Canberrans really smarter and wealthier? Or are they just better at tax...?
To: Mr. Frank de Jong <fde...@earthsharing.ca>

 

Having trouble reading this newsletter? View it online. PROSPER NEWS Thursday 25 2020             Dear Frank, We hope many of you will join us on Tuesday the 10th of November at 12:30pm for our zoom webinar and Q&A. We are lucky to have a terrific panel of heavyweight economists in Warwick Smith, John Freebairn, and Tim Helm. We’ll be discussing our second evaluation of the ACT government’s twenty-year tax reform program to replace volatile stamp duties, and the prospects for meaningful tax reform in other states. Lead author, Warwick Smith, has found Canberra’s revenue stability has improved, the economy is growing strongly and the market is more accessible for homebuyers.  The steep rise in rates has not deterred buyers, with housing affordability remaining a challenge for Canberrans (read Warwick’s op-ed in the Canberra Times). Nor has the reform deterred voters according to the ACT’s recent election!  Tuesday, November 10th 12:30pm  Zoom Free   REGISTER   After eight years, the ACT’s bold experiment in tax reform is paying dividends. Can other states emulate the ACT's success?  Join our expert panel of tax boffins as we explore the options and opportunities, and launch The Second Interval: Evaluating the ACT’s 20 Year Land Value Taxation transition after 8 years by Warwick Smith & Jesse Hermans. Warwick Smith is an economist, biologist and cofounder of the Castlemaine Institute. He has previously worked with Per Capita and is an honorary fellow at Melbourne University.  Professor John Freebairn holds the Ritchie chair in economics at the University of Melbourne and is a superstar of Australian tax policy. He recently served on the panel of NSW’s Federal Financial Relations Review. Dr Tim Helm is a sharp shooting, freelance economist. He has worked with Grattan, EY and the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. He is the author of Prosper’s Designing the Transition report. Raising Revenue: A better way for Vanuatu Photo by Florian de Graaf on Unsplash Did you know that many of our Pacific Islands neighbours are contending with land enclosures? Many Pasifika lands are held in customary tenure and cannot be alienated from the community, bought or sold.  International development agencies are advising Pacific agencies to privatise the land and impose sales taxes, dumping hundreds of pages of tax law on their desk and expecting them to go for it. This never sits well with indigenous people who understand deeply how central land is to all.  We invite you to delve into a longer read by Dr Terry Dwyer, economist, tax lawyer and trustee of the Henry George Foundation of Australia. In this essay, prepared for the Financial Markets Association of Vanuatu, Terry recounts the history and the key principles of tax design. A readable overview dotted with historical precedents for those wanting to know: why land tax?  Renegades Radio: Big Pharma’s Covid-19 Exposure In episode 589 of the Renegade Economists, host Karl Fitzgerald asks if multinational pharmaceutical corporations have exposed society to undue risk in the covid era? In the second episode on this issue, Tahir Amin takes us through the R & D ecosystem of pharmaceutical development. Is Big Pharma's role to develop life saving products or digest competition? Listeners will understand why this market is in urgent need of a major overhaul. Similar monopolistic practices to what we see in land supply, diamonds and gas are on display. As always, policy pathways are provided as a matter of courtesy. Check the show notes for the detail uncovered.   All the best, Emily and the Prosper Team CONNECT   DONATE   Together we can create a just and fair society. Your tax-deductible gift will spur our research and advocacy. Level 1 64 Harcourt St. North Melbourne, VIC 3051 Australia This email was sent to fde...@earthsharing.ca.  You can unsubscribe here.