The Henry George School of Social Science, Chicago, Illinois

Funding opportunity from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation

Robert Schalkenbach Foundation is accepting applications for “original research that carries the ideas of 19th century economist and social reformer Henry George into the 21st century and beyond.” Their current areas of interest include:

The relationship between infrastructure spending and economic rents, including estimates and suitability of future economic rents as a source of funding for infrastructure spending;
Gentrification and displacement as influenced or mitigated by property taxes (effects of land value or split-rate taxation are of particular interest);
The impact of climate change on land value and government finances based on property and land value.

Maximum funding amount is $10,000 (plus you get the prestige of having received foundation funding), and the application deadline for the current round is December 17 2021. More information is on their site.

Let us know if you’re coming for Henry George Day in Evanston Monday, September 6

Image credit: Don Barrett CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

We missed last year due to ‘demic and other disruptions, but this year we’ll gather again to celebrate the birthday of Henry George. He was actually born September 2, 1839, but we gather on “Labor Day” as that’s more convenient for most working people. Due to local solar conditions, we’ll start around 3 PM, continuing until more-or-less dark around 7.

All graduates, students, prospective students, volunteers, and other supporters of the Henry George School are invited. It’d be great if you want to bring food or drink to share, but that’s not required. But please do let us know you’ll be coming. While we’ll have grillables and other edibles, water and beer, it’ll be helpful if someone volunteers to bring a bag of ice, some soft drinks, etc. Also email if you have any questions.

Political Economy Book Club reads Love & Hate in Jamestown

Replica of Discovery — 2015 replica of Discovery, one of Jamestown’s transatlantic ships. Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs. CC BY-NC 2.0

Returning to live meetings after the ‘demic interruption, HGS’ Political Economy Book Club is reading Love & Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas and the Start of a New Nation. Numerous copies of this 2005 book are available at Chicago Public Library and many suburban libraries, as well as inexpensively from various sources. Meeting will be Wednesday, September 22, at 6PM, at our Signature Offices location, 333 S Wabash #2700.

This meeting is free to attend, but you must reserve in advance (preferably using our Eventbrite link) to assure space is available and to clear building security. Email us if you have any questions.

Chicago Tribune housing inequity articles

Chicago Tribune used the fact that John Oliver did a segment on housing discrimination the July 25 2021 episode of Last Week Tonight on HBO as a hook to get people to read their own coverage of inequity in housing and property tax assessment.

The effects of disinvestment in Chicago’s Black and Latino communities

Research linked to:

South Side native combats redlining with Woodlawn Pointe

Chicago real estate industry looks at ways to end racial bias

Stories linked to

Flashback: A Chicago family defied a racist real estate covenant. The backlash and legal fight inspired ‘A Raisin in the Sun.’

Has Illinois been able to reverse its worst-in-the-nation budget trends?

Adam Schuster, director of budget and tax policy, Illinois Policy Institute

Video from Zoom Webinar

Illinois has some of the nation’s top pension debt and decades of irresponsible budget-making. Another session of the General Assembly has come to a close. Were legislators able or willing to make progress in finally addressing these decades-old long-standing issues, or were they once again swept under the rug and put off for future? Is what happens in Illinois a bad lesson for your state’s government?

Please join Adam Schuster, director of budget and tax policy of Illinois Policy Institute for a sober analysis of the state’s budget future, in an always lively and fascinating discussion.

Zoom Webinar presented by Henry George School of Chicago and Council of Georgist Organizations
When: 7 pm EDT/6 pm CDT, Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Please request an invitation to participate in the Zoom Webinar here.

Alternatively, you may attend this event in person at the Henry George School at Signature Offices, 333 S Wabash Ave #2700, Chicago, Illinois. You must let us know that you will attend in person by sending an email message to events@hgchicago.org with your name, phone number, and email address.

Video and a document referenced in the presentation:

Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics.

Illinois Forward 2022: COVID-19 makes pension reform imperative to protecting taxpayers, services for vulnerable Illinoisans

More CGO sessions by zoom, coming up

Council of Georgist Organizations has announced more on-line sessions, including two on assessment. Details are on their site. Previous sessions in the series may be found by searching “Council of Georgist Organizations” on youtube. Videos from prior annual conferences are linked here.

How Land Speculation and Credit Expansion Create Boom/Bust Cycles

The Council of Georgist Organizations has reformatted its annual conference as an extended on-line series. The first session, How Land Speculation and Credit Expansion Create Boom/Bust Cycles, will be this Sunday, May 17, noon CDT. Speakers:
Richard Vague
Polly Cleveland
Dan Sullivan

Speaker bios are here.

All interested are welcome to attend, using the zoom link

or by phone using the password 779472 at one of the numbers listed here.

March 23 2020 event cancelled: Investigate a proposal for Illinois’ fiscal recovery

“Eternal Indian” at Oregon, IL, prior to rehabilitation. Image credit: Charles Carper (CC BY 2.0)

Adam Schuster March 23 2020 presentation has been cancelled.

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

Adam Schuster suggests that raising taxes won’t cure the distress of our state and local governments. He presents a fair alternative.

In his new Illinois Forward report, the Illinois Policy Institute’s Adam Schuster finds that “The state’s fiscal crisis has been built during nearly two decades of spending more than it brings in, driven primarily by unsustainable and rising costs for public sector pensions. As a result, Illinois’ overall financial health is perhaps the worst in the nation.

“Fortunately, Illinois can still be brought back from the brink if elected leaders get serious about bipartisan spending reforms that have seen success in other states. The three commonsense proposals in this report show how.

“Illinoisans deserve a state government that respects their wallets and provides them with valuable services. Unsustainable pension costs and ever-rising tax burdens deprive them of both.”

The full report is available here. Following his presentation, Mr. Schuster will respond to questions and comments from attendees. Note that the report was not produced by and is not endorsed by the Henry George School. The School sponsors this event to encourage thoughtful discussion of public finance issues.

This presentation will be rescheduled for a later time.

Starting in January: Progress & Poverty, Applied Economics, more

image credit: Brian D. Luster CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Introducing Progress & Poverty, a single session providing an overview of Henry George’s most important ideas and how they apply here and now, will be presented twice in January, on Thursdays January 9 and January 16. The first session will be done by veteran HGS instructor George Menninger, and the second by instructor Chuck Metalitz. Both sessions are free, but building management requires that you pre-register, which can be done thru Eventbrite for January 9 and January 16. Both sessions are at 333 S Wabash, and start at 6:15PM. If you’re intruigued, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for our full Progress & Poverty course which begins January 23.

For those who’ve already taken Progress & Poverty with us or another Henry George School, or the equivalent course at the Henry George Institute or elsewhere, we also offer the advanced Applied Economics: International Trade course.