Summary
Phil links to Mason Gaffney’s New York Times obituary. Gaffney was a well-known Georgist academic who argued land should be heavily taxed as “common treasure,” which would lift all other tax burdens. Phil notes Gaffney’s ideas were suppressed institutionally — universities (major landowners) oppose land taxation. Also links to Gaffney’s essay on why poor people support parties of the rich.
Key Claims
- Mason Gaffney was a respected Georgist academic whose ideas were systematically suppressed by institutional landowners. — confidence: high
- Universities are extensive landowners, exempted from property taxes in Australia — giving them incentive to oppose land value tax. — confidence: high
- “If the law of gravity had a vested interest, it would not have been discovered yet.” — confidence: high