Speaker: Frank de Jong
Topic: Henry George Economics: For a Just, Green, and Prosperous Society.
Time: Apr 13, 2022 13:30 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Summary:
I will be speaking on the work of the international network of organizations that work to popularize the thought of 19th century American economist, Henry George, specifically advocating financing governments by capturing “economic rent” in lieu of taxes on jobs, business and goods and services.
Economic rent refers to revenue without a corresponding cost of production, the societal surplus or super profits that flow to the owners of monopoly held assets like land, resources (oil, copper, trees, water…), the privilege to pollute, the EM spectrum, agricultural supply management quotas, drug patents, taxi medallions, etc.
Though this wealth rightfully belongs to the community, it presently flows mostly untaxed to private asset owners, forcing governments to finance programs by economy-damaging taxes on profits, incomes and sales.
BIO:
Frank de Jong was born to Dutch immigrant parents and grew up on a dairy farm in Southern Ontario. He holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Ottawa. He served as leader of the Green Party of Ontario from 1993 to 2009 significantly raising the profile of the party. Since 2000, he has been an international speaker and writer promoting the philosophical and economic ideas of Henry George.
As a colleague of Frank DeJong within the “Georgist” community, I am heartened to listen to this exchange and the level of serious consideration being given to the moral argument that access to nature is a natural right, while access to a particular part of nature is a privilege for which compensation to the community is warranted.
Many years ago, I learned that some followers of Henry George used the term “cooperative individualism” to describe George’s principles. Shortly thereafter, I established an online project called the School of Cooperative Individualism to introduce others to these principles and the policies they recommended to us.