I have this new piece over at Comment is Free this morning. Part of the series entitled, Who owns the progressive future, it suggests that rather than rehearse old arguments between left and right, we should instead look for inspiration to some as yet untried ideas of the past, with reference to the thought of Karl Polanyi and Henry George.
I have a new piece over at Comment is Free this afternoon, this one inspired by John Stewart's excellent political novel, The President.
I have a new piece up at Comment is Free this afternoon. It takes a look at possible long term solutions to the financial crisis through the ideas outlined in an excellent new book by Brian Hodgkinson. As the Guardian summarises in its standfirst:
I think this book could make a major contribution to building a more just and equitable society. I recommend it wholeheartedly, and am pleased to report that the publishers, Shepheard-Walwyn are making it available to readers of this blog at a considerable discount.
Click here to take advantage of this offer.
I have a new piece over at Comment is Free, looking at the situation with land reform in South Africa.
The nice people at the Guardian cut the original version (it was a bit long). For anyone interested, here it is.
The longer version makes mention of the fact that, unlike most countries, South Africa has been levying a partial tax on land values for many years; a practice that has now been outlawed.
I have a new piece over at Comment is Free now, which you can read here.
It's a response to Aditya Chakrobortty's challenge to progressives to do better in their response to the current economics crisis.
Fred Harrison, whose recent book, Ricardo's Law, I reviewed on comment is free last year, has now made a short film in which he outlines the book's central message: that our failure to address poverty is a direct result of a tax system which favours the better off, and discriminates against the poorest; a tax system which taxes the wrong thing: people's labour, while leaving the unearned wealth that accrues to landowners largely untaxed.
He makes a persuasive argument, and it's a rather good film. You can watch it in high definition via the producer's website, here, or on YouTube here:
Fred's book is available here, and other books on land value taxation are available through his (and my) publisher, Shepheard-Walwyn.
I have an article in the current edition of Land and Liberty Magazine, the journal of the Henry George Foundation in which you might be interested. Their online presence is not as up to date as it might be, but you can download a pdf of the latest issue. If you do, and you like what you find, please make a donation here.
Most easily of all, you can read my article in full, here.
Fred Foldvary has an informative piece over at The Progress Report in which he rates the policies of US presidential candidates from both parties against the essential change criteria of the geolibertarian movement. He's especially good on the wacky tax plans of Republican hopeful, Mike Huckabee.
And why not check out Fred's fledgling political party, Free Earth. It's easy to dismiss such initiatives as marginal and therefore inconsequential, but as a concise programme for transformative social change, it's right on the button.
Those nice people over at Amazon have discounted my book, so if you haven't read it and would like a copy, you can buy it here.
When it was published, The Possibility of Progress garnered one or two positive comments.: Tony Benn thought it "a deeply moral and intellectual book". James Robertson called it "important, impressive and readable". Tony Vickers suggested that it might be "the book that Henry George would have written if he'd been alive today."
At the book launch Tony Benn, Clare Short and Susan Kramer all turned up to give their backing to the book, more information about which you can find here.
I'm currently working on another book which explores similar themes from different angles, but while that one is in production, The Possibility of Progress should keep you going.
If you're in the United States, you can order it through amazon.com by clicking here. (Sorry, no discount).
Of course, if you can afford it, and have an independent bookshop nearby, why not get them to order it in for you? It'll cost you the full price (£14.95) but you'll be supporting a small business, rather than a corporate giant, and contributing to the cause of progress in a tiny way.
Happy reading!
Mark
