The Geonomist Volume Ten Issue Four

Geonomics is …
… as unfamiliar as geo-economics. The latter is a course some universities offer that combines geography and economics. A UN newsletter, Go Between (57, Apr/May '96; thanks, Pat Aller), cited an Asian conference on geopolitics and "geoeconomics". The abbreviated term 'geonomics" is the name of an institute on Middlebury College campus and of a show on CNBC. Both entities use the neologism to mean "global economics", in particular world trade. We use geonomics entirely differently, to refer to the money people spend on the nature they use, how letting this flow collect in a few pockets creates class and poverty and assaults upon the environment, and how, on the other hand, sharing this rental flow creates equality, prosperity, and a people/planet harmony. This flow of natural rent, several trillions dollars in the US each year, shapes society and belongs to society.

February 19, Virginia Governor Warner signed into law permission to let the City of Fairfax shift their property tax off buildings, onto land. Last year's governor vetoed the same bill. This time, the Republican chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Chichester, demanded unanimous passage and got it. Among others, GeoSoc Advisor Dr. Nic Tideman had lobbied the legislature. Spearheading the drive, which began in 1997, was Josh Vincent, director of the Henry George Fdn.

Wintering in Nicaragua, I'm finishing my writing projects. One book down (on geonomics), two to go (screenplay on geotopia and computer game teaching geocracy). Work, work, but the living is easy and the Nicas friendly.

You can go into people's homes and find American flags draped on their walls. Nicas show a little bit of bitterness against the US, but much more hero-worship. Nicas are fed up with poverty and actively seek prosperity. Maybe more so than in other tropical countries. The newspapers do a better job of covering the economy than do the US media (they've even printed my letters). Elected officials lent me their ears. Each month, 100 Nicas sign up to take the intensive course offered by the Instituto Henry George, plus buy the texts. And an overwhelming majority, poor included, voted for the party endorsed by the US, the Liberals. Might these wanna-be Republican clones make a difference? Classical liberals – Smith, George, even Friedman – besides opposing wacky taxes, acknowledged the need to collect rent. And for Nicas, land is not invisible as in the urban, industrial North. As I've never voted for a candidate who's won, I spare myself hoping they'll do what works. But I'm addicted to doing what I see needs getting done, here and back home. Meanwhile, wherever you are, have a merry winter.

In Geotopia, they do life differently than us. Their policy follows geonomics. A book on geonomics, Money for Nothing, Planet for Free, and a screenplay on comic life in a functional future, Geotopia, are both now ready for constructive feedback. Geonomics tells the size of rent available and how sharing it deprives waste and unmerited class yet rewards sustainable choices and lets people prosper. It reanalyzes the concentration of wealth, the cycles of history, and shows the progress proponents are making now to shift taxes and subsidies, to thereby share the rent of a healthy planet. In Geotopia, future scientists accidentally interrupt a present robbery, transporting victims and criminal to a time and place that's paradise for all – but those unaccustomed to buildings that grow, menus that fly, and people who can buy anything. By law, the scientists must return their visitors to the exact moment they left, however murderous. First, a society without police must catch a trio coming from a time of sneaky business. Fancy yourself an editor? Know any agents, publishers, or producers? Please get in touch.

The people of Norway enjoy the planet's highest standard of living according to the UN Human Develop-ment Report because they collect and share lots of rent. Norwegians don't get a rent dividend, but they do get free medical, generous unemployment compensation, and enforced environmental standards. Since their rent is from an accident of geology, the Norwegians give millions to poor nations. The rent they get comes from North Sea oil (Milwaukee Jrnl-Sentinel, 01 Dec 14; thanks, Nadine Stoner). Other oil-rich nations – Mexico, Nigeria – fail to share the rent, losing it to rampant corruption, and stay poor. But even oil-poor nations have a font of rent just as bountiful as petroleum – the downtown locations of high commercial value in their capital city. Using a tax or fee or dues, a responsible government could collect and share site rent, raising any country to the level of Norway.

Tax breaks and subsidies have always been a commodity. In this arena, Enron, like most big corporations, was a big spender. The government officials they dealt with profited handsomely. Besides donating to the campaigns of legislators and judges, Enron also appointed cooperative officials, such as Wendy Gramm, wife of Senator Phil Gramm, and "Mack" McLarty, former chief of Clinton's staff, to lucrative seats on their board. (websites of Progress Report or Common Cause) So if all the big boys do it, why did it backfire in Enron's case? Did the market for electricity, whose demand skyrocketed with the burgeoning use of computers, suddenly shrink? No. Were they squeezed when what they paid for fuel went up after they had already signed contracts to supply cheap power? Some. Did Lay and buddies, enjoying powerful political connections, get too greedy? Maybe. Certainly their huge debt, exacerbated by selling assets to insiders, scared off investors.

One day the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, declared the recession over; the next, Pres Bush signed the economy's "rescue" into law. Citing the concluded (or waning?) recession, Congress lavished subsidies and tax breaks upon big business. The stimulus package's benefits are shared 80% to the rich, 20% to the rest (NYT, Mar 9). April 15th – what, me worry?

Swelling agri-business subsidies pushed farmland cost to a 20-year high, even as commodity prices fell further, making life easier for owners, tougher for tenants (The Christian Science Monitor, Jan 4). The populist among national newspapers, USA Today, also noted Bush's tax cut added complexity to the tax code, so the 1040 will take 13.5 hrs, a half hour more than last year (Mar 20).

George F. Will (Mar 7), The Wall St Jrnl (Mar 6), and USA Today (Mar 6) also faulted Bush for raising the tariffs on imported steel. Voices that speak for "the people" remained silent. Yet tariffs let protected producers charge more, so consumers have less money to spend on unprotected goods. Rather than protect unneeded jobs, we should replace them with an extra income paid to all, paid from rent collected from society's sites, resources, and sinks. A rent dividend, not tariffs, protects everyone, not just a few.

As Kmart grapples with bankruptcy, other retailers wait to pick the carcass, the chains' locations. In places like Portland that try to manage growth, big-box retailers don't easily proliferate. When Montgomery Wards closed all its stores last year, Target and others quickly moved into the spaces Wards had previously occupied. In places like Phoenix with looser zoning laws and flooded with big-box stores, empty spaces stay empty longer. Larger retailers will seize this opportunity to expand or move into the Portland market. With more stores, they can support fixed distribution and advertising costs. They might be able to use some of the buildings, but they'll have to renovate and convert older Kmart buildings, even raze some and redevelop the site. (The Oregonian, Jan 23) What makes doing it worthwhile is the value of the location, a value belonging to all. Recovering site rent gives everyone an opportunity to consider the best use of prime commercial sites.

Losing dough during the recent downtown, food processors in Oregon applied for a reappraisal of their property. The tax they pay funds local schools and other services (Oregonian, Jan 21). If the tax fell not on improvements but on the value of locations as if they were put at their highest and best use, then owners would be constantly motivated to utilize their land and local governments would receive a steady flow of rent. Keeping land at best use would inoculate localities against the economy's mood swings. Even if all land were to lose value so localities were to lose income and provide people less service, people would not need as much assistance since land would cost them less, saving them money. Plus, the drop in land costs would draw investors and thus not last long.

Calling it the largest fraud ever against the city, federal prosecutors indicted 18 New York City tax assessors for accepting from property owners more than $10 million in bribes during the last 35 years to lower assessments on more than 500 buildings, including several of the city's best-known skyscrapers that command some of the highest rents in the city. As a result of the fraud, the city lost $160 million during the last four years alone. But during the life of the scheme, the FBI said there were perhaps tens of millions in bribes and hundreds of millions in lost revenue. Not indicted were the ringleader's blue-chip client list of many prominent Manhattan landlords. When some property owners pay less than they owe, others pay more. (New York Times, Feb 26) If people received the rent, and if cities could not tax anything but depended upon a share of rent, then watchdogs in both parties would be eager to check the numbers in the cadastre, especially the values of the most lucrative locations.

In Arizona, at last it's legal to bid on public land to keep it out of use, thanks to a November ruling by the state's Supreme Court. Ranchers are not happy, but this way there may yet be some grazing land left for the ranchers' grandkids (ChrSciMnt, Jan 8).

In DC, Bush signed into law McCain's campaign finance reform, and Vermont and San Francisco adopted Instant Runoff, the requirement that winners receive a majority of the vote; if no one does, then the two top vote-getters go at it again. Thus you can vote for your favorite candidate without throwing victory into the lap of your worst nightmarish candidate.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has introduced legislation (HlR.2459) to create a Cabinet level agency dedicated to peacemaking. It'd give some balance to the War Department, called the Defense Department since World War II as part of Cold War propaganda. A real state department would already incorporate both strategies of war and peace.

Another green group, number #124 in our list, agrees with at least some aspect of geonomics. In a 1997 UN document, Q 2000 Youth Campaign for Sustainable Sweden: "If you improve your house for environmental reasons, e.g. install a heat pump, you have to pay more taxes. That gives house owners the wrong signals and prevents adjustment to a sustainable society."

The Tellus Institute, which once corresponded with us, and the Environmental League of Massachusetts (already in our list for shifting taxes in general) put out their joint table-top lit, "Taxes that Work for Our Environment and the Economy". They acknowledge help from Redefining Progress, which once contracted with us. They endorse Land Value Taxation, relying heavily on Henry George. They warn against using LVT in the countryside, worried that it'd spur new construction on pristine sites. Yet LVT does not increase development beyond demand; it relocates development to the most appropriate sites and makes it more compact, less auto-dependent. So, rather than worry, use LVT – or whatever method to recover rent in lieu of taxing effort – everywhere.

David Korten, #125, now says in his talks, "Contrary to the title of my book, When Corporations Rule the World, it's actually the global financial system that's in charge. For 1996, the shareholders of the seven largest US money center banks reaped an average total return of 44%. The 24 largest US diversified financial services companies yielded their shareholders an average total return of 38.4%. Mutual funds specializing in finance averaged a 26.5% return, besting all other industry categories by a wide margin. Funds specializing in much touted technology stocks came in at 21%. (So let's): Tax Speculative and Other Unearned Gains - A third step might be to tax land at its fair rental value." (thanks, Alanna Hartzok) David suggests other taxes and regulations, but their goals would be reached automatically if society were already recovering and sharing all its rent.

What most people misunderstand, most economists know, even if they don't forthrightly go public. Duke Dr. Tom Nechyba broke ranks, saying, "No one can decide to produce more or less land; that land is taxed will not distort economic decisions. A tax that reduces expected future rents will drop the price of land. But the total cost – purchase price plus tax – remains unchanged. Property taxes, on the other hand, distort the cost of making improvements to the property. Substituting a land value tax for capital taxes on a national level would not only be efficient but would actually raise the value of many types of land. A lower tax on man-made capital will increase the use of that capital, producing greater output and more hiring of labor. The division of capital into land and man-made capital is a departure from standard analysis" (which is a departure from classical analysis – and reason). "Under conservative assumptions, this tax shift is feasible in all states." (Land Lines, Jan, Lincoln Inst)

An economist at Unitec in Auckland, New Zealand, after being on the other side in public debates, now writes that the regardless of who owns utilities like water, electricity, phone, cable, etc., they being a natural monopoly means the public should get more of the rent. Government could tax or charge a fee then pay residents a dividend, says Keith Rankin, citing the Alaska oil model. As utility bills go up, consumers will conserve while receiving a fatter dividend. (New Zealand Herald, Feb 6; thanks, Phil Anderson)

In South Africa, where income distribution is close to the most unequal in the world, many are pushing for a monthly basic income grant of R100 for all South Africans. With the Coalition for a Basic Income Grant are: South African Council of Churches, Southern African Catholic Bishop's Conference, Congress of South African Trade Unions, South African NGO Coalition, Development Resources Centre, Community Law Centre (UWC), Gender Advocacy Programme, the Alliance for Children's Entitlement to Social Security, Child Health Policy Institute, Treatment Action Campaign, ESST, and Black Sasc. (spring newsletter of US BIG, below)

"(Henry) George's campaign (for mayor of New York) marked a turning point in the debate over the workings of democratic public institutions. George defended … leisure time in which to enjoy the benefits of public parks, playgrounds, and museums… (O)rdinary New Yorkers claimed access to Central Park and to new small parks in their own neighborhoods." (p 286)

"… William Vanderbilt paid taxes on only $500,000 in personal property, although his estate was valued at $40 million. When assessors tried to tax J. P. Morgan for $1 million in personal property, the financier appeared before the local tax board and swore an affidavit claiming that he had 'no personal property over debts other than untaxable assets.' In denouncing this tax system with its 'premium on fraud,' Henry George had introduced his audiences to a new term: 'Tax dodgers'". (p 305)

The Park and the People: A History of Central Park by Roy Rosenzweig & Elizabeth Blackmar, 1992, Winner of the 1993 Historic Preservation Book Award and the 1993 Urban History Assoc. Prize for the Best Book on North American Urban History.

George Bernard Shaw in his An Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (1928): "Henry George called my attention to the outrageous misdistribution of income resulting from the apparently innocent institution of private property in land. I am finishing Henry George's job. The Single Taxers are not wrong in principle; but they are behind the times. Out of landowning there has grown a lazier way of living on other people's labor without doing anything for them in return. Until you understand Capitalism you do not understand human society. You are living in a fool's paradise; and Capitalism is doing its best to keep you there. You may be happier in a fool's paradise; and as I must now proceed to explain Capitalism, you will read the rest of this book at the risk of being made unhappy and rebellious, and even of rushing into the streets with a red flag and making a greater fool of yourself than Capitalism has ever made of you."

Corporate Irresponsibility: America's Newest Export, by Lawrence E. Mitchell (2001) noted that a corporation is merely a piece of paper in a bureaucrat's office – the corporate charter, limiting liability. "The consequence is to permit, if not encourage, the corporation to externalize the costs of its profit making upon others." We could abolish the charter. If managers, directors, and investors were fully liable for the consequences of their actions, then they'd be more careful in their dealings with the health and safety of workers, consumers, and nature.

Mitchell, a lawyer, explained why US incs forgo the future. All the laws and judgments are set up to protect one goal – maximizing stock value. Mitchell blamed too much liberty rather than too little equality. To free incs to think ahead, Mitchell would abolish elections of the board, noting such elections are merely perfunctory anyway. He would tax short-term profits and require corporations to report their good deeds.

Yet taxes and subsidies are two huge distorters of choice. Business can avoid taxes by borrowing and writing off the debt, rather than use cash flow to invest in R&D. And subsidies bail out businesses when the market tries to correct their foolish behavior. Losing both taxes and subsidies, along with liability limits, would go a long way toward freeing business to plan for the future.

Subtitled: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender, by Thomas H. Greco (2002 Chelsea Green), it has been in the works for more than four years. Vicki Robin, author of the foreword, gives the metaphor of revealing the "wizard of Oz" to be a fraud and a deception. The rules of the money game are made by the banks (not the government, not the people) where 95% of all money is created as interest-bearing debt. The money supply lags behind the growing amount of debt, which fuels the cancerous growth that threatens to overwhelm the planet's life support system. Alternative money systems, from depression-era scrip to today's local em-ploying and trading systems, are over 2000. In Argentina, the RGT (Global Trading Network) sustains a half a million families and offers insulation from the adverse effects of economic globalization. E-mail or phone Margo Baldwin, MONEY Project Director at Chelsea Green (mbaldwin@sover.net; ph 802/765-4869; fx 802/765-4376).

Visit www.chelseagreen.com/Livelihood/MoneyEBook.htm. Read the "Talking Points". Buy Money from Chelsea Green, Amazon.com, your local bookseller, or the author at $16.95 postpaid.

Fred V. Cook (Jan 7): "How would this work with "The Natural Step" ecological ethics?" Ecological ethics were the starting point – pay for what you take, not what you make.

"Are the Saudi riff raff entitled to a share of the profits from the sale of oil extracted from under their sand?"

Ideally, any commodity with a world price would have the whole world of people sharing that price. Six billion being an unwieldy number, instead, the people in the region would share. If all the "riff raff" got a slice, then there'd be less profit concentrated in a few families like the Bin Ladens.

Budd Dickinson (Jan 8): "Isn't tax shift what True Cost Pricing is all about? It also attempts to get away from 'taxes' as Jeff wants to do, although in my opinion if it quacks-like-a-duck…"

If you don't use a government service, you don't pay a user-fee. Whether you use government services or not, if you don't pay taxes, you go to jail. There is a difference between jailbirds and ducks.

"Tax shift is one thing. Land-value tax is another. Most will support the former, but have serious doubts about the latter."

Alan Courtright (Dec 23): "I don't consider taxes a 'form of stealing.' Governments have legitimate functions. Those functions need to be financed."

But how? Taxes are not a necessary evil. Dues and fees work fine. And society has plenty of public values. No need to steal private ones. Merry April 15th.

"So what's 'right' if the government gets its money in the way YOU prefer? It's still taking money."

"Taking"? In a quid pro quo exchange? Offering a service and charging those who use it? How's that "taking"?

But it'd go up even more if not for that little bit of land tax inside the property tax.

Jim Mann (Jan 10): "Nor do I see any difference between price-like fees and a tax."

I've a list of 20 differences (any takers?). A couple key ones are fees are quid pro quo while taxes are not, and the amount of a fee can be set by market demand while taxes are as high as politicians can squeeze from citizens.

(Jan 8): "If land is to be the principal source of government income, who sets the rent and how? If it is set by local elected officials, where do the federal and state governments get their operating income?"

The principal source of government income would be rent for land in the broadest sense – sites, resources, broadcast spectrum, sinks (environment), and special privileges like franchises, etc. Their value is set like any other price, by bidders in a competitive market. Government assessors, like real estate appraisers, investors, bankers, etc, merely record the amount agreed upon by buyer and seller. The various levels of government (actually "breadths" in an egalitarian society) would divide up the recovered rents by the Intimacy Principle – home site value goes to local jurisdictions, while the value of distant, impersonal sources, like the broadcast spectrum, goes to the feds.

"You write a good newsletter, but I think it presumes its readers know too much." I'm working on that.

(Jan 21): "You're a dreamer." Hopefully, you are, too. Eventho following a dream makes life tough for the individual, at least society gets vision, and thus direction.

While critiquing politicians, pundits let official economists off the hook. Yet if the Fed's guesses are always off, why let them have so much control over the economy? In a "free" market, shouldn't demand, not one man, set the bank's lending rates? Two years ago when the economy first started to cool, we noted the downtown was not, according to the 18-year land price cycle, the big bottoming out. Indeed, housing starts are still hitting highs. When real estate (actually, land value) collapses, that'll be the real depression. But by then, it'll be too late for non-geonomists to bail out. Expect that next nadir in about four years.

To some, that house is a beautiful relic of a bygone era. To others, a worthless obstruction to progress. The two sides square off all over America. Recently on Staten Is, the owner admits buying the home to tear it down, to profit from redeveloping the location (NYT, Mar 10). Yet the value of a location is made by the people moving in, not by anyone selling out (while the land itself was made by none of us). If society collected and shared site rent (in lieu of taxing buildings, incomes, and sales), then homeowners would no longer expect to reap the value of the land beneath the home upon demolishing it. The debate over historical preservation would be far less contentious. And since the higher the land dues, the lower the land price (see Duke Dr. above), buying property to preserve it would become far more affordable.

Excerpted from Maurice Fabrikant's letter
Even though we may give charity to a tenant, at least part of that gift – perhaps all of it – actually goes to the tenant's landowner who simply raises the rent. The lenders who provide loans to purchase residences at inflated prices also gain. In order that the wealth received in or produced by a community be more equitably shared, either every land occupier in the community must be an owner or every land occupier must be a tenant. While it's hard to sell everyone a parcel of equal value, any community could charge all members a rent proportional to the value of the occupier's parcel. The community would then spend the collected rent in ways to benefit all residents equitably (via services and dividends). Charity, while good, cannot alleviate the long-term need of tenants.

The first regular conference of the US Basic Income Guarantee Network drew about 60 to the CUNY Grad School in Manhattan, Mar 8 & 9. Brazilian Sen. Eduardo Suplicy keynoted the event and agreed with funding a social salary from the rents of nature (predistribution), but also from the earnings of others (redistribution). My presentation argued for tapping rents exclusively. Besides sites, resources, and sinks, I cited five more sources such as corporate charters and other privileges. Unlike taxing income, collecting rent actually increases the wealth available (see Duke Dr, page 3). Over 20 big-name environmentalists promote some sort of rent dividend, far more than the leftists pushing a social salary. Terri Schofield, VP of the National Homeless Coalition, took interest in a local version – a housing voucher paid to all residents from the site values in the locality, often 200 times higher in downtown commercial districts. She and boyfriend, a real estate investor on his way to meet Pres Bush, took me to dinner in a limousine. Terri invited me to present geonomics at the annual conference of the coalition in Washington in April. Attendance depends only on funding.

About 6,000, not counting police, attended the UN Conference held in Monterrey, Mexico, March 18-22, preceded by the UN NGO Forum, March 14-16. For the first time, the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, and yours truly participated in a UN event. Titled "Financing for Development", with a track called "Mobilizing Domestic Resources" that included the term "taxation" in its descriptive blurb, organizers seemed to be begging for the skinny on geonomics. Hernando de Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital, noted in Mexico the poor own real estate worth $315 billion, seven times the value of Pemex, the nation's oil monopoly. In Egypt, the poor control $245 billion – 55 times the total foreign investment made in Egypt over the last 150 years. He noted Japan's land reform, but kept silent about recovering rent.

Subbing for Alanna Hartzok (however inadequately), this writer represented the International Union for Land-Value Taxation and Free Trade, enabled by the Robert Schalkenbach Fdn. I gave a talk at the preceding NGO Forum and had a seat, more honorary than participatory, at one of the Ministerial Roundtables. Besides this writer, another going beyond mere aid was the paper, "Charging the Use of Global Commons", by the German Advisory Council on Global Change, an academic group. The local daily, El Norte, interviewed me for a feature article in the Sunday paper (March 24, also on the web). Representatives of US AID and the World Bank said they'd like to explore ways to facilitate geonomics. (complete report at progress.org)

Allan Cooley, Sta Barbara, CA: "Loved the winter issue. Keep up the good work." You make it possible.

Gerry Shaw, Calgary, Canada (Jan 16): "Let's drop taxing land, land tax, land value tax, single tax. Let's not take or even collect the rent but RECOVER it for the benefit of all citizens." I'd been using "collect" but "recover" is more precise yet.

Meta Heller, Olympia, Washington (Jan 31): "Thanks a million for your report on studies done on funding transit with rent. Now that you have opened my eyes, I will open others. I am having 25 copies made, distributing them to the press, Senate and House Transportation Committees, and others." Any other takers? You can find it on the Victoria Transportation Policy Inst website.

Maurice Fabrikant, Aussie (Jan 17): "Happy New Year to you! I've read The Geonomist and note that you appear to be directly responsible for the lion's share of that which is printed. While that's fine, you may appreciate receipt of some material for inclusion in a future issue. I wish you a sufficiency of good health, peace and wealth so that you may continue your excellent work."

Thanks, and Happy New Year to you, too, the old Roman one, beginning on the vernal equinox, the old April 1. Many thanks, too, for the article, excerpted above. May more readers send in clippings, cartoons, essays – and money.

John Watkins, New England simplifier (Jan 19): "Last newsletter was wonderful; I'll probably use some of it in a future Simple Solutions. It also stimulated some research on the Philadelphia story. Do you have someone who goes over your copy before it's put into the process? There are times when items are not clear to me, passages that need amplification in order to "get" the message. I offer this as a person from a publishing background who understands how difficult it is to express complex ideas in simple ways. And e-mail addresses should be placed in the bcc field. You don't take up message space or bandwidth. You don't reveal names and addresses to others (some of these folks may resent that)."

Glad you liked the last issue. Am putting all your suggestions into practice. Would gladly accept anyone's offer to edit.

Paul Martin, Nica/Gringo school director: Want to live in Nicaragua and learn Spanish? And also help the Nicas develop? Visit the Nicaragua Spanish Schools, http://pages.prodigy.net/nss-pmc, a cultural emersion program at three locations in that Central American country. At NSS's www.ibw.com.ni/~nssmga, compare over 80 Spanish language immersion programs in 14 different Latin American countries. Contact Paul, nss-pmc@prodigy.net, who also directs the Instituto Henry George de Managua, http://www.ibw.com.ni/~ihg

Last year we raised and spent about $10k. Now that the book Geonomics and the script Geotopia are ready to roll, we hope to quintuple next year this budget.

The Robert Schalkenbach Fdn (Sep 10) granted us $2,000 for diffusing The Geonomist and $1,200 for attending the confabs of the UN in Monterrey and the Environmental Tax Shifters in Vermont. (Ever know anyone to travel so cheaply?)

For joining or rejoining, thanks to double stalwart Everett Gross (Nebraskan firebrand), stalwart Gerry Shaw (Alberta oil man), sustainer Charles Keil (Connecticut activist), supporters Jack Bailey (Oregon Common Cause President), Tom Greco (Arizona author), Meta Heller (Olympia lobbyist), John Morales (Missouri elder activist), Maurice Fabrikant (Aussie musician in retirement), subscribers Robert Bernstein (Sta Barbara hi-techer), Allan Cooley (Sta Barbara accountant), Marilee Fuller (Idaho county assessor), Ben Russell (Arkansas distant learning teacher), and Greg Young (Missouri student). Anyone else if so moved, please contribute. Heap on that money manure; help us spread like weeds – now, in the season of planting.

Everett Gross, retired Nebraskan: "I put my charitable deductions in the even numbered calendar year and then take the standard deduction in the odd year. This enables me to make more contributions to causes I consider worth." Thanks for putting us in that group. Too bad complying with April 15th forces us thru such hoops, but kudos for such creative thinking – and may many other would-be supporters follow suit.

Each Earth Day, Oregonians have a ball in the Columbia River Gorge at Hood River City, listening to hip music and speakers, even yours truly, entertain and enlighten. In early June in old Yugoslavia, the UN meets to strategize ways to have energy sources be sustainable, again with your editor on the program, showing how curbing taxes while recovering rents motivates people to reduce use of fossil fuels, conserve thru efficient appliances and plain common sense, and invest in state-of-the art technologies. Your contribution can help turn this invitation into a sure thing. The findings from this conference will feed into the huge UN conference later this year in South Africa, the 10th anniversary of the Rio gathering.

If you shop on-line, you can support geonomics with each purchase. To browse the CDs, books, office supplies, flowers, toys, and videos, go to iGive.com. If you join, or get others to join, go to http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?causeid=20599

Celebrate the change in seasons with a check to those changing the system at its roots. Visit our website. Order an article or three. Join! Sign up others! Persuade foundations to support us. Come to a meeting. Organize meetings, lobbying, letter-writing campaigns to editors and elected officials. Invite us out to present our show. Get elected and us appointed to your cabinet. Weigh our worth. It is on the wings of donations that awareness spreads. And the sooner the word gets out, the sooner the world gets well. Thanks.

THE GEONOMIST

Vol. 10, No. 4
Editor: Jeffery J. Smith

THE GEONOMIST

Vol. 10, No. 4 Editor: Jeffery J. Smith

Vol. 10, No. 4
Editor: Jeffery J. Smith