Peter Smith

  Or why the green movement has trouble accepting the one policy that will guarantee their objectives.   Land Value Tax (LVT) in its full theory is very complicated and to understand it properly requires a lot of thought and to mechanistically work out how it is fundamental to the protection of nature & natural assets. I myself have been attacked at conferences by well-meaning greens who’s hostility and almost zeal at condemning LVT leaves me depressed and confused as to their thinking. Why such people should have such anger, denial and almost  willful  need not to educate themselves of the economics of environmental destruction needs further investigation.  My best answer for this came from the similarities to the title theme of Robert M. Pirsig's bestselling book ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ exploring the ‘Metaphysics of Quality’. Even though LVT is official Green Party Policy, explaining LVT to the leaders of the gree...

This week there has been many reports on second homes. Our recent Budget speech was basically a charter to give public money to underwrite loans to buy homes. Most of these will be sold to speculaters,  landlords and people wanting a second home and not fo r the  purpose  the  deceitful  chancellor George Osborne stated; in helping people buy a house for  their  own oc cupation. Leading on from this press activity former poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, now head of the campaign to Protect Rural England, has made the headlines in all the UK media, calling for tax increases on second homes in the countryside to preserve communities. He is of course correct but if we dig deeper into what do we as a society want to see in the countryside we must look at the issues and values that will save rural communities. A number of papers have posed the question of how do we value rural Britain and protect its socia...

I listened to our Government's Chief Scientist,  John Bebbington, on Radio 4 this morning, he is retiring and has made a statement on three ‘underlying problem’ facing Humanity: Climate Change, population Growth, and Sustainable cities. What annoys me about such media debate is they seem to avoid all discussion on actual remedies to the three ‘underlying problems’ he raised. Instead of examining the solutions, the debate concentrated on anguish, wringing their hands with worry; saying it is really difficult and if only we tried a little harder, and it’s going to cost a fortune to protect the planet, and nobody wants to bear the cost of doing so etc... The real ‘underlying problem’ is our legal, political and economic system that enshrines the right of Government bodies & private individuals to own the ability to destroy and monopolise natural assets without compensation to the rest of society & ‘the planet’; yet it is the one issue that never seems to be chal...

An old story as relevant to day as it was then: Many years ago a company of tradesmen united themselves into a guild and each one had to relate what he could contribute to its support. First the blacksmith came forward and said:— "Gentlemen, I wish to become a member of your organisation." "Well, what can you do?" "Oh, I can make springs and axles for your carriages, shoe your horses, and make all kinds of implements." "Very well, come in, Mr. Blacksmith." The mason applied for admission into the society. "What can you do, sir?" "I can build your barns, bridges, houses, and stables." "Very well, come in; we cannot do without you." Along comes the shoemaker and says:— "I wish to become a member of your society." "Well, what can you do?" "I can make boots and shoes for you." "Come in, Mr. Shoemaker; we must have you." In turn all the trades and professions a...

A certain popular wildlife Conservationist was on the BBC’s top house price ramping programme, ‘Escape to the Country’ this week. The Wildwood Trust attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year, keen to experience the many animals it protects, such as these very cute baby beaver and rescued dormice which were featured on the programme. Clip from the BBC 'Escape to the Country' This programme shows very well how property prices are affected by the community that surrounds the houses. The infamous phrase; LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION tells us the largest part of a ‘property’s price’ is the location value, i.e. that which is created by the whole community. Now that means that, with all probability,  the popular tourist destination and conservation charity Wildwood Trust is adding many thousands, if not millions, of pounds to the land prices of the houses & businesses in the area, these landowners (free-loaders) have enjoyed this ...

Only a few miles from where I am typing this the needlessly cruel practice of live animal exports has started again in Ramsgate Kent. Understanding that a small loss of income, say from not being allowed to live export sheep, will make the sheep farmed on ‘marginal’ land not worth farming. Thus a number of livelihoods will be ruined, and so a body of people are highly motivated to campaign on an issue to protect their livelihood/privilege (the privilege being the landowners of tenanted farms in marginal areas).  Thus the government is constantly pushed by people with the motivation and means to lobby for such a vile practice of causing such huge animal suffering. My favourite saying at the moment is: “it all happens at the margins” A similar augment can be made for cows and M.Bovis as the marginal dairy farmers are the ones so motivated to campaign so strongly to blame badgers and campaign  for the cull. Such desperate people are easi...

The biggest threat to beaver reintroduction to the UK is powerful  landowners and thier campaigning bodies such as the NFU, CLA & CONFOR. The owners of riverbanks see beavers as a threat. In my view the solution to the beaver issue is Land Value Tax... In the fight to reintroduce the beavers the battle lines have been drawn, and will always exist between private landowners wanting to derive as much profit from their land as possible, i.e. intensive farming on riverbanks and the public need for 'ecosystem services' such as water quality and flood plain buffering of peak flow. The natural tendency towards people trying to create monopolies means landowning groups want to co-opt the taxpayer into paying for services they receive such as river management and drainage, while at the same time receiving private profits and government hand-outs with little taxation. Much of the research into 'ecosystem services' is being sponsored so as to allow a valuation for ...