BLOG: Commentary

Property rentier collects its spoils

By Leith van Onselen Hot on the heels of Prime Minister, Tony Abbott’s gutless announcement that he won’t reform negative gearing, prime spokesman for the property industry, the Property Council of Australia (PCA), has released the following statement: Executive...

Xenophon changes tune on super access

Cycling into work yesterday I bumped into the good Senator Nick Xenophon. I had to yell out "No super access for First Home Owners"! He responded so I hit the brakes and we had a short chat. In good news, Nick said that he had changed his position: 'I've been...

Deciphering Change

With Land Value Tax recently in the press here, here, here, here, here and here, we hope these four interviews with leading international Georgists help build the public knowledgebase. Share them as you may. Listeners from as far afield as Ecuador to Hobart are...

The Move

We are now settled into our new office space - LSX, 285 Lennox St, Richmond. It's just a few minutes walk from Richmond Station. Check the map below and more details on our contact page. As a co-working space, it's a world of innovation and collaboration. We have a...

Economic rents subsidise taxes on capital

Following the recent Treasury submission to the Federal government's Tax White Paper, which highlighted the positive marginal excess burden of Land Tax, is a more detailed analytical paper from Treasury using extensive modelling to report on the incidence and...

The rent ratchet mumble of the BBQ landlords

Rents always go up – don’t they? The 1.2 million negatively geared Australian tax payers whose property expenses exceed their rental income think so. Their cunning plan is to patiently wait while the rent ratchet turns their negative cash flows positive and net income...

A misguided attack on Land Value Taxes

by Noah Smith The idea of a Land Value Tax (LVT) is to tax the value of land independently of the value of improvements on that land (e.g. buildings, farms, or mines). Separating the value of a plot of land from the value of the structure built on top of it is a very...

Treasury unearths a beautiful tax

Treasury today released its submission to the federal Tax White Paper. It has found a tax that actually confers a benefit on Australian citizens. That is, using it actually leaves us better off. It isn't a new tax. It is land tax. Unbiased economists have always known...

Carnegie’s endowment

Prominent Australian investor Mark Carnegie has called for tax reform to end the policy and financial straight jacket we find ourselves in – pointing to land tax, a resources tax and a lift in the GST to 15 per cent. He labelled the Abbott Government’s upcoming White...

Land Takes All the Gains

Phil Anderson, author of The Secret Life of Real Estate & Banking, delivered a captivating presentation at Tuesday's packed Boom or Bust - Where are we in the Cycle? event. About half of the recording was included in this week's Renegade Economists podcast. Topics...