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.
Would Rube Goldberg have been able to design a less straightforward system of funding government than the U S Federal income tax? In this presentation, HGS instructor Bob Jene looks at what it costs to collect this revenue. The direct cost to the government of operating the Internal Revenue Service is only a small part, as the burden put on the taxpayer, and the diversion of effort from productive uses, should also be considered.
In recent years, Georgists have created a large amount of video material about fundamental economic concepts, their basis and their application. Some are brief, some extended. All are helpful in understanding what we teach, why it’s important, and how it can be used. Producers include Earthsharing, Earthsharing Australia, Council of Georgist Organizations, and others. We’ll be watching a bunch of these during a four hour period Tuesday evening. Feel free to drop by for as long (or short) as you’d like. A list of the videos, with links, will be provided, as will some light refreshments.
The event is free, altho donations to help pay our rent and other expenses are appreciated.
Do we need to suffer like this (and/or pay someone else) in order to fund government? In this presentation, HGS instructor Bob Jene looks at what it costs to collect income taxes. The direct cost to the government of operating the Internal Revenue Service is only a small part, as the burden put on the taxpayer, and the diversion of effort from productive uses, should also be considered.
International trade has been a continuing issue throughout our history. The issues Henry George confronted in the late 19th century were similar to those raised in the recent election. His careful analysis showed that both sides were wrong, and proposed a trade policy to raise real wages of working Americans.
Despite huge social, technological, and demographic changes since George’s time, his analysis requires only very minor updates, and concludes that today, again, both sides are wrong. Take this opportunity to understand and evaluate for yourself a proposal to achieve widespread prosperity, here and now, thru True Free Trade.
This free presentation by Henry George School instructor Chuck Metalitz is adapted from our “Protection or Free Trade” course.
“The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought – that is, a thought diverging from the principles of IngSoc – should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.“
— George Orwell
Something like this has happened to the field of economics, says Dan Sullivan. Terms which had clear meanings to Adam Smith, J S Mill, and other classical economists have got distorted and redefined– or obliterated– to prevent serious discussion of economic issues. Going back to the roots of political economy, Dan suggests the real point of a proper science of economics would be to efficiently satisfy the desires of the people, both individually and collectively.
Dan will help us distinguish between “rights” and “privileges,” “investments” and “acquisitions”, and several distinct concepts that all get called “wealth.” He’ll address the difference between “means of production” and “capital,” and differentiate “human capital” from modern slavery.
You can understand today’s economic issues such as minimum wages, tax policy, international trade, housing costs, and unemployment, but only if you have a clear idea of the fundamental terms. These terms can be readily comprehended by ordinary people and do not lead to any particular “left” or “right” public policy, but they facilitate informed communication.
There will of course be time for questions and discussion.
Based in Pittsburgh, Dan Sullivan is a popular speaker on economic issues, and Director of Saving Communities
Please register for this Zoom Webinar by clicking the green registration button.
David Wilson, author of the forthcoming book Towns Along the Q, will discuss the consequences of certain disastrous and discriminatory housing policies that he has become familiar with in the course of researching the topic, development of Chicago’s western suburbs along the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railway.