This presentation looks at the cost of collecting the income tax. The IRS overhead itself represents the direct cost to the government in generating this revenue. Beside that there is the burden put on the tax payer in preparing his return, in the case of an audit there may be the cost of representation before a tax court. You also become aware of the vast amount of human resources wasted on this activity for the revenue generated.
Successful land speculation (also known as “real estate investment”) is really a matter of taking for yourself the gains that belong to the community. George Menninger is one of the many who have done it, but he’s exceptional in his understanding of what he did, as well as his sympathy for his victims. He’ll explain how the bad public policy he exploited not only made him rich, but led to continued poverty, unemployment, and even the recent economic meltdown.
Menninger is a Henry George School volunteer instructor, and this stand-alone session also serves as the introduction to his modern version of Progress & Poverty. After his talk, you may, if you wish, sign up for the five-session course.
…who makes it valuable, and how they should share it with the rest of us.
Attempts to “tax the rich” have led us to contrive all kinds of methods to impose costs on working people. But if we look at who “the rich” really are, rather than focusing on the amount of a person’s income, we could instead look at the source. In addition to simpligying the tax system, this approach could increase opportunity and restore the nation’s economic health
Come for an evening with Bob Jene to compare the Georgist fiscal reform to the TARP bailout, the Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, the Bush tax cuts and government money creation. A gist of each proposed or attempted solution to the great recession will be given including QE I, QE II, and QE III. Attendees will rank the proposed measures to get out of the recession on a scale of 1 to 10 based on eight criteria.
We will be discussing Books III (The Progress of Opulence) and IV(Systems of Political Economy) of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world’s first collected descriptions of what builds nations’ wealth and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. Through reflection over the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labor, productivity, and free markets. [from Wikipedia, where additional description is available.]
The full text of Wealth of Nations is available free from here, from many public libraries, and inexpensively for purchase. A free audiobook is also available.
RSVP requested.
Since earliest civilizations, humans have recognized that food is a product of farmland (and, yes, pastureland, fisheries, etc) and have managed to cultivate enough land to feed themselves. Yet today we routinely convert farmland to urban use. American Farmland Trust (AFT) seek to ensure continued agricultural use of some land by buying development rights from farmers, and try to make farms more viable by facilitating community supported agriculture. The geoist fiscal reform provides an alternative way to encourage more conservative and productive use of all land. With additional material from YES! magazine about the slow food revolution, this presentation by HGS instructor Bob Jene suggests that an alliance between AFT and geoists might benefit both.
You are welcome to attend the first session, on Wednesday May 7 6PM, at no charge and without committing to enroll. Instructor Bob Jene will provide an overview of and introduction to the course. At the conclusion you may choose to enroll ($25 fee), or pass up this opportunity (There will be another chance next term, and more thereafter.) More about Progress & Poverty
You are welcome to attend the first session, on Wednesday May 7 6PM, at no charge and without committing to enroll. Instructor Bob Jene will provide an overview of and introduction to the course. At the conclusion you may choose to enroll ($25 fee), or pass up this opportunity (There will be another chance next term, and more thereafter.) More about Progress & Poverty
Guided by HGS instructor Bob Jene, this tour starts with a look at the City of Chicago amenities on the lakefront in Grant Park, and their effect on land values in neighboring private properties especially along Prairie and Indiana Avenues south of Roosevelt. This is the museum campus area with a mixed style of housing. We continue down to the Central Station Area where there are some vintage mansions on Prairie Avenue. We will stop to look at assessor’s data on the value of units, properties and parking spaces and how they relate to location.
You are welcome to attend the first session, on Wednesday May 7 6PM, at no charge and without committing to enroll. Instructor Bob Jene will provide an overview of and introduction to the course. At the conclusion you may choose to enroll ($25 fee), or pass up this opportunity (There will be another chance next term, and more thereafter.) More about Progress & Poverty