Of fruitful debate there’s a dearth.
Gone begging are issues of worth.
Midst futile dissension
What most needs attention
Is how we can best share the earth.
— Damon Gross Welcome, Earthsharing readers! We've had a bit of a hiatus, but we're back, sharing new articles showing four of the many, MANY ways in which land and natural resources impact our lives... cultures... possibilities... Please let us hear from you, by replying directly to this newsletter!
— Lindy Davies |
Around the world, people are flocking into cities in unprecedented numbers – even though many of the cities offer them no more than slums with no infrastructure, and not even security of tenure. Every year it gets more critical that we learn how to create urban centers that are self-supporting, environmentally sustainable, and offer opportunities for all their residents. We have no choice: we've got to get cities right. |
Officials kept telling interviewers that nothing on this level had ever happened, that the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey was a millennial event. This seems to have been both true and not true — and really, more the latter. Turns out that this is the third 500-year flooding event Houston has seen in the last three years. Something is definitely … Read more. |
Baltimore's Sandtown: Too Far Down?
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When do we just walk away? How far down does a neighborhood, or a city (or a nation, or a planet) have to go before we accept that the cause is lost, that no reform or movement can save it? Ursula LeGuin's "Hainish" series of novels deals with a federation of planets, far in the future. These stories represent our … Read more. |
Recently I decided it was time to introduce myself to an aspect of American culture with which I had no experience. I began by picking up a copy of a magazine called Tactical Weapons. I can understand the impulse to arm oneself in self-defense, and hunting is part of our culture and economy. But folks, the weapons in this magazine … Read more. |
Rough Spots for the Big AppleTimes seem to be good New York City; crime and unemployment are down; a Democratic mayor just got reelected; skyscrapers are springing up everywhere. Yet, chronic urban problems are rearing their ugly heads once again, as described in two New York Times articles this week. An editorial looks at why there are so many vacant storefronts throughout the city. And a long report details years of shortsighted decisions that have left the subway system in a shaky state of reliability and repair. Can a sensible tax and fiscal policy save the day? Here's an article exploring how that could work. |
"To address Los Angeles’ housing crisis, Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed a “linkage fee” on new development. The city would charge new residential developments of more than five units $12 a square foot, and new commercial developments $5 a square foot, to finance subsidized affordable housing." "This proposal is well-intentioned. Given our politics, and the realities of Proposition 13, it might be the best L.A. can do. But it won’t raise much money or build much housing, and it dodges rather than solves the fundamental problem in our housing policy. We should try for better." "The way around this dilemma is to fund affordable housing by taxing land, not development. Taxing land value — one of the oldest ideas in public finance — makes sense on every level that taxing development does not. L.A. has much more land, and land value, than it does development. This means a small land tax could raise more money than even a high linkage fee. For example, a flat tax of $3 per day on every parcel in the city would raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year. A 2% tax on every residential real estate transaction over $1 million would raise $200 million annually." |
How Metro Can Recapture Some of the Value it CreatesJournalist Walter Rybeck penned this intriguing op-ed for the Washington Post. Rybeck is also the author of the excellent 2011 book Re-Solving the Economic Puzzle. Economist Mason Gaffney comments: "By the way: several U.S. and western Canadian cities in the Progressive era prospered by keeping mass transit fares very low, for years, financing their rails and cars with taxes mostly on land values. Cleveland under Tom Johnson held them at 3 cents; NYC for years and years at 5 cents; Detroit under Mayor Pingree close to zero." |
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To start discussing Land Value Tax (LVT), and other ways of making a difference in the world, join our discussion group on Facebook. Here, you can ask questions about Earth Sharing, LVT, ending poverty, and protecting the environment. You will be able to talk with professors and regular people in the larger Earth Sharing community. It is also a gateway to other discussion groups, a marketplace of ideas for making the world a better place.
We don't necessarily endorse any of the viewpoints in these discussions on Facebook, but they are thought-provoking! |
Be well! Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon. Your feedback is always appreciated. Just reply directly to this newsletter!
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