Excellent interview introducing Henry George economics
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Frank de Jong
May 22, 2013, 3:39:19 PM5/22/13
to Earthsharing Canada Google Group
Frank Peddle is a member of Earthsharing Canada, lives in Ottawa, and is President of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5gzRnUfSw
Francis K. Peddle, J.D., Ph.D., is currently Vice-President -- Academic Affairs at the Dominican University College, Ottawa, Canada and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy. He is a barrister and solicitor and has been a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada for over twenty years.
He has appeared before numerous tax commissions and task forces, most notably the Bédard Commission (Montreal,1999), as well as the Federal and Ontario Courts of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Tax Court of Canada and the Assessment Review Board.
From 2006 to 2011 Peddle was the Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Social Economics. In April, 2009 the journal published, with Peddle as Guest Editor, a Special Issue entitled "Henry George as Social Economist and Radical Reformer."
He is the author of Cities and Greed: Taxes, Inflation and Land Speculation (1994), Henry George and the End of Tax Commissions (1995). More recent publications include "Distributism and Marginal Productivity," Science et Esprit, Vol. 63/3 (2011) and The Poverty Paradox (2011) which is an anthology of writings on the relation between economic rent and poverty.
B.G. Hearns
May 26, 2013, 9:20:22 AM5/26/13
to earthshar...@googlegroups.com
Hi, Frank.
Interesting interview. Mr Peddle lays out the work of Henry George & how he
disappeared from the mainstream, but I think he's wrong about two big
points.
I was with him right up until the very end when he talked about growth and
then I saw two errors in his narrative.
Growth as a normal condition of economics is over. Growth requires energy
and we have hit the limits of energy on this planet. Energy sources have
reached critical rates of depletion and are now in decline globally. We have
entered a state of permanent contraction and there is no existing economic
theory that can cope with that fact, because every economic school came
into existence during a period when there was always more plentiful energy
freely available on tap. That is why they ALL appear to work, even when in
direct contradiction with each other and the argument has always been over
which one is best. So they are all failing now, the free-marketeers, and the
uber-socialists.
George didn't disappear from the political debate because he wasn't popular
with the classes in power; he disappeared because in the general wealth
boom he became irrelevant.
The oil bonanza that produced such astounding material wealth in the 20th
century started swinging into full gear right after WW2, coupled with the New
Deal welfare reforms that ensured a better -- though still disparate --
distribution of wealth to the lower classes made concerns about inequality
vanish. Furthermore, as the U.S. began to transfer in wealth from outside its
borders, all its citizens got a share, even only a very small one, and social
welfare -- at lease for citizens -- lost its popular concern. Its a typical phase
that empires go through when they get wealthy.
So, as everyone at every level was getting wealthier, and, let's face it,
between the 1950s and the 1970s, "poverty" was something that existed in
Africa, then no one much minded if the richest were getting even richer,
faster.
The housng bubble was much bigger and much worse this time because,
unlike previous iterations, it was the final attempt for large masses of people
to pretend that through eternal growth they would become wealthy.
I believe Georgism is best able to cope with the current inevitable decline, to
minimize the unpleasant effects. But it cannot stop it, nor reverse it, nor bring
back any halcyon days of material prosperity.
Bruce
>
> Frank Peddle is a member of Earthsharing Canada, lives in Ottawa, and
> is President of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
>
>
> Frank Peddle on the Harold Channer
> Show
>
> because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Earthsharing Canada"
> group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from
> it, send an email to earthsharing-ca...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to
> earthshar...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/earthsharing-canada?hl=en. For more
> options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
Interesting interview. Mr Peddle lays out the work of Henry George & how he
disappeared from the mainstream, but I think he's wrong about two big
points.
I was with him right up until the very end when he talked about growth and
then I saw two errors in his narrative.
Growth as a normal condition of economics is over. Growth requires energy
and we have hit the limits of energy on this planet. Energy sources have
reached critical rates of depletion and are now in decline globally. We have
entered a state of permanent contraction and there is no existing economic
theory that can cope with that fact, because every economic school came
into existence during a period when there was always more plentiful energy
freely available on tap. That is why they ALL appear to work, even when in
direct contradiction with each other and the argument has always been over
which one is best. So they are all failing now, the free-marketeers, and the
uber-socialists.
George didn't disappear from the political debate because he wasn't popular
with the classes in power; he disappeared because in the general wealth
boom he became irrelevant.
The oil bonanza that produced such astounding material wealth in the 20th
century started swinging into full gear right after WW2, coupled with the New
Deal welfare reforms that ensured a better -- though still disparate --
distribution of wealth to the lower classes made concerns about inequality
vanish. Furthermore, as the U.S. began to transfer in wealth from outside its
borders, all its citizens got a share, even only a very small one, and social
welfare -- at lease for citizens -- lost its popular concern. Its a typical phase
that empires go through when they get wealthy.
So, as everyone at every level was getting wealthier, and, let's face it,
between the 1950s and the 1970s, "poverty" was something that existed in
Africa, then no one much minded if the richest were getting even richer,
faster.
The housng bubble was much bigger and much worse this time because,
unlike previous iterations, it was the final attempt for large masses of people
to pretend that through eternal growth they would become wealthy.
I believe Georgism is best able to cope with the current inevitable decline, to
minimize the unpleasant effects. But it cannot stop it, nor reverse it, nor bring
back any halcyon days of material prosperity.
Bruce
>
> Frank Peddle is a member of Earthsharing Canada, lives in Ottawa, and
> is President of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
>
>
> Frank Peddle on the Harold Channer
> Show
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5gzRnUfSw
> Francis K. Peddle, J.D., Ph.D., is currently Vice-President --
> Academic Affairs at the Dominican University College, Ottawa, Canada
> and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy. He is a
> barrister and solicitor and has been a member of the Law Society of
> Upper Canada for over twenty years. He has appeared before numerous
> tax commissions and task forces, most notably the Bédard Commission
> (Montreal,1999), as well as the Federal and Ontario Courts of Appeal,
> the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Tax Court of Canada and the
> Assessment Review Board. From 2006 to 2011 Peddle was the Deputy
> Editor of the International Journal of Social Economics. In April,
> 2009 the journal published, with Peddle as Guest Editor, a Special
> Issue entitled "Henry George as Social Economist and Radical
> Reformer." He is the author of Cities and Greed: Taxes, Inflation and
> Land Speculation (1994), Henry George and the End of Tax Commissions
> (1995). More recent publications include "Distributism and Marginal
> Productivity," Science et Esprit, Vol. 63/3 (2011) and The Poverty
> Paradox (2011) which is an anthology of writings on the relation
> between economic rent and poverty. -- -- You received this message
> Francis K. Peddle, J.D., Ph.D., is currently Vice-President --
> Academic Affairs at the Dominican University College, Ottawa, Canada
> and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy. He is a
> barrister and solicitor and has been a member of the Law Society of
> Upper Canada for over twenty years. He has appeared before numerous
> tax commissions and task forces, most notably the Bédard Commission
> (Montreal,1999), as well as the Federal and Ontario Courts of Appeal,
> the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Tax Court of Canada and the
> Assessment Review Board. From 2006 to 2011 Peddle was the Deputy
> Editor of the International Journal of Social Economics. In April,
> 2009 the journal published, with Peddle as Guest Editor, a Special
> Issue entitled "Henry George as Social Economist and Radical
> Reformer." He is the author of Cities and Greed: Taxes, Inflation and
> Land Speculation (1994), Henry George and the End of Tax Commissions
> (1995). More recent publications include "Distributism and Marginal
> Productivity," Science et Esprit, Vol. 63/3 (2011) and The Poverty
> Paradox (2011) which is an anthology of writings on the relation
> because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Earthsharing Canada"
> group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from
> it, send an email to earthsharing-ca...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to
> earthshar...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/earthsharing-canada?hl=en. For more
> options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
Izzy
May 26, 2013, 11:14:48 AM5/26/13
to earthshar...@googlegroups.com
Re: B.G. Hearns comments: "Limits of Energy Source" should consider
advances in recovery systems (Fracing shales, etc) as well as developing
technologies to harness other sources such as Fusion - Fission - Magnetism -
Radiation - not to mention wind-power - tide-powers - etc. It looks like
there is still lots to come. HG was suppressed because those in power
thought that "charity" would be sufficient to solve the problem of poverty.
That is still the solution many support. Izzy Gliener.
-----Original Message-----
From: earthshar...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:earthshar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of B.G. Hearns
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 7:20 AM
To: earthshar...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Excellent interview introducing Henry George economics
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advances in recovery systems (Fracing shales, etc) as well as developing
technologies to harness other sources such as Fusion - Fission - Magnetism -
Radiation - not to mention wind-power - tide-powers - etc. It looks like
there is still lots to come. HG was suppressed because those in power
thought that "charity" would be sufficient to solve the problem of poverty.
That is still the solution many support. Izzy Gliener.
-----Original Message-----
From: earthshar...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:earthshar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of B.G. Hearns
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 7:20 AM
To: earthshar...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Excellent interview introducing Henry George economics
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