Progress.org | Economy, Society, and Nature

Rising to the Challenge

Why It Matters:

Goethe: The moment you commit, then Providence moves too... Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Jeffery J. Smith

Our mission is to promote equitable and scientific ideas that practically support our evolving humanity. By recognizing the interconnectedness of all living things, Progress.org provides deep insight in the areas of economics, society, and nature to affirm a world that works for everyone.

Bounty: Mining Numbers at Official Stockpiles

Academic guesses are based on public records based on private sales.

Jeffery J. Smith

From Capitalism to Rentierism?

With nary a whimper, capitalism has been permitted to morph into rentierism and is suffering consequences warned by Adam Smith and Henry George.

Bounty: Scholars Guess: How Many $ In This Market?

Since land is so crucial, some can’t resist estimating its worth.

Jeffery J. Smith

Give me your tired, your poor...

When trying to understand the economics of sustainability and immigration, we must ask : Can a nation go it alone?

Georgism and Globalization

Globalization decreases the barriers around the world and also within a country. Such changes also include the flows of pollution, people, and trade from one place to another.

The Optimal Distribution of Income

We don’t need fancy equations to analyze the optimal distribution of income. We simply divide income into earned income from wages and unearned income from economic land rent.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Bounty: Money Talks … And Silences? (pt 3 of 3)

Spend a little rent to guarantee receiving a lot of rent.

Jeffery J. Smith

March For Our Lives Is About More Than Gun Control

Special Interests and plutocrats have taken over more of the government with the complacency of each passing generation while younger generation change makers are chastised.

Bounty: Money Talks … And Silences? (pt 2 of 3)

Spend a little rent to guarantee receiving a lot of rent.

Jeffery J. Smith

The Great Crash of 2008

We’ve “been there and done that” so many times before. Yet, the endogenous cycle keeps returning, as soon as we find peace, and economic life returns to its even tenors.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Bounty: Money Talks … And Silences? (pt 1 of 3)

Spend a little rent to guarantee receiving a lot of rent.

Jeffery J. Smith

Private Property?

It’s quite amazing how the term ‘private property’ has come to mean to some people the land over which we have been granted title.

Bounty: Media Report “Official” Land Values

Enough readers want to know Earth’s worth that mainstream articles do pop up with “answers.”

Jeffery J. Smith

Co-existing with Rent-seekers

A misunderstanding among Georgists revolves around the degree that rent-seeking should be allowed. Exactly how do we co-exist with hardcore rent-seekers?

Bounty: Data—Quantity, Lots; Quality, Hmm

Finding tons of articles is no problem; finding the nuggets amid them is.

Jeffery J. Smith

One of the most controversial and confusing topics in economics is interest. The payment of interest has been condemned and misunderstood.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Bounty: Our Turn With the Torch

Those who went before must not have labored in vain; we honor economia’s trailblazers.

Jeffery J. Smith

Labor-saving Robots?

Land is a factor when there are abundant workers chasing scarce jobs being made more scarce by advancing technology while those who have jobs are hanging on to them for dear life.

Bounty: The Call of the Riled

Hear that call? Officially calculating the worth of Earth in America is way past due.

Jeffery J. Smith

Basic Income’s Third Wave

The drive toward a basic income isn’t new. It’s a 100-year-old movement that has gotten stronger each time inequality has returned to the public discussion.

Karl Widerquist, Ph.D.

Bounty: Missing Link Would De-Mystify Economies

It’s not just another pretty fact; Earth’s worth is really something special.

Jeffery J. Smith

It’s time to call the housing crisis what it really is: the largest transfer of wealth in living memory

Most of today’s ‘wealth’ isn’t the result of entrepreneurialism and hard work – it has been accumulated by being idle and unproductive.

Bounty: Our Ignorance Is Whose Bliss?

Americans remain unaware of the worth of Earth in America. Who’d ever favor not knowing Earth’s worth?

Jeffery J. Smith

Net Neutrality 3.0

There are other ways to ensure the Internet is a freely and equitably accessible resource.

Bounty: Official Stamp of Insignificance

Officials do post a number for the worth of Earth in America. It’s so tiny. That’s the best Earth’s biggest economy can do?

Jeffery J. Smith

What is a Governmental Intervention?

Laws prohibiting offenses are interventions. Interventions are often bad substitutes for sound economic policies.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Bounty: Why Don’t Professors Profess the Figure?

As fewer can afford a home, might they nudge the experts to tally up what everyone pays to live where they love?

Jeffery J. Smith

How important is "Understanding Economics?

Sprawling development degrades human communities, worsens the decline of urban centers, and places ever-greater stresses on the environment.

Bounty: Knowledge Worth Knowing

Right under our collective nose is a way to divine economic performance—we just need to do some accounting first.

Jeffery J. Smith

Empires and Human Behavior

If we are going to have empires, maybe having them be dedicated to an ideal of good management and taking care of the people with a mind for long term sustainability isn't all bad.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 9)

On Publicizing Public Land Records. (Final excerpt)

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 8)

Farmland assessment: Amenity values, expected rising cash flows, tax shelter values, mineral rights, and entitlement values.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 7)

Major biases in land assessment: Radio spectrum, rights of way, and severed property.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 6)

Major biases in land assessment: Tax exempt land, minerals, and water.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 5)

Major biases in land assessment: Slow-turning classes of property, different assessment methods, and preferential assessment.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 4)

Major biases in land assessment: Regressive assessment and raw land.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 3)

The many important functions and implications of land data: Forecasting from past cycles, finding the real interest rate, assessment discrimination, and planning public works.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 2)

The many important functions and implications of land data: Land as a credit base, raising consciousness of latent values, and protecting federal revenues.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Why Research Farmland Ownership And Values? (Presented Paper Excerpt 1)

The many important functions and implications of land data: concentrated holding and property taxation.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Bounty: Modern Man Can’t See Land

The worth of Earth and the human brain are a bad match. Sure, some humans don’t want the total known. But also, brains aren’t fully conscious.

Jeffery J. Smith

The Case Against the Case Against the Single Tax

Alvin Johnson, an American economist at several universities, denigrated the logic and evidence for land-value taxation in an anti-scholarly manner.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Bounty: Is Trillion the New Billion?

The worth of Earth is not just another pretty number. It's proof that nature and markets love us.

Jeffery J. Smith

Food, Clothing, and Shelter

The "invisible hand" of the market works wonders when it comes to food and clothing. So why does shelter demand more of what we earn every year?

Bounty: Worth Counting

One number—absent from mainstream economics for some unknown reason—could inform us of the health of the economy, our ecosystem, even our future.

Jeffery J. Smith

Henry George and the Single Tax Documentary and Interview

Mike Bonner, the creator of Henry George and the Single Tax documentary, spoke with us about his film and the Georgist movement. Watch the video and read his comments here.

Socialize the Rent

We need to capture the economic rent of our natural resources in order to, finally, put paid to this incredibly counter-productive period of economic retrogression.

The American Infrastructure

The best way to pay for a road and its bridge is from the land rent that gets generated by that infrastructure.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Why Land Value Tax and Universal Basic Income Need Each Other

Land Value Tax can generate and recoup the funds needed for a Citizen's Dividend Basic Income, while a Citizen's Dividend Basic Income makes a clear case for taxing land values.

There is a way-of-thinking that understands the key role that land, earth, and other opportunities of nature play in resolving society's deepest economic problems.

Individual Sovereignty

Individual sovereignty means that it is evil for anyone to interfere with one’s honest and peaceful choices. One more element needs to be addressed: the issue of land ownership.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

How much does UBI cost?

Some “back-of-the-envelope” estimates and important findings.

Karl Widerquist, Ph.D.

Empty Sovereignty

Debating about sovereignty lost to climate regulations or trade pacts really amounts to squabbling about the crumbs that are left. No land means no sovereignty.

Norway's Resource Rent Sharing Fund Reaches 1 Trillion USD

The Fund was established only 20 years ago as a means for Norway to store and invest the oil and gas revenues in a responsible manner for the benefit of future generations.

Monopoly was Invented to Demonstrate the Evils of Capitalism

Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism. Is it time to reinstate the original rules of Monopoly?

Equifax Moving Forward

An organization of such influential magnitude that affects so many people must act with integrity and be held accountable. It is clear that changes are needed.

Naming Things Right

Many people seek clarification of economic definitions -- and it's no wonder, for the glossaries offered in most Economics courses aren't the least bit consistent or clear.

The BIG Misunderstanding About the Cost of Universal Basic Income

The cost of a UBI is often greatly exaggerated, because people are tempted to think the cost of UBI is the size of the grant multiplied by the size of the population.

Karl Widerquist, Ph.D.

Sharing the artificial resources openly and the natural resources that we all have as a birthright is a step towards equity and justice in labor.

Flooding in Houston: No Real Surprise

A Georgist take on Houston and Harvey.

Declare Peace on North Korea!

The United States should offer a peace treaty with North Korea and offer diplomatic relations. The Korean War did not officially end. Let’s end it now.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Why Economies Are Failing

The Real Excess Burden: An Overarching Approach

My Own Private Basic Income

One person’s experience becoming a business owner shows how our economy is based on luck rather than merit and how it rewards people who own stuff rather than people who do stuff.

Karl Widerquist, Ph.D.

Replace Confederate Chiefs with Soldier Memorials

The Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee, Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and others could be replaced with war memorials for the soldiers of the Confederacy.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Basic Income as a Strategy to Promote the Georgist Movement

Basic Income is having its third and largest wave of support. Georgism had a peak wave of support over 100 years ago. Why is Basic Income taking off now while Georgism is not?

Karl Widerquist, Ph.D.

The Revolt Against the American Empire

The US political cycle has turned from globalist welfare-statism to nationalist ethnic-statism.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Changes are coming for the better!

Dropped by Gatekeepers

An investigator takes two steps forward, one back, then steps where?

Jeffery J. Smith

Superbugs in Indian Chicken…and Global Property

Debt and the current property cycle continues

Trump Says: Let the Lords of Finance Rule

Why the property market, the real estate cycle and banks will really take off under a Trump Presidency

Henry Plottre and the Magically Expanding Land

A tale of land economics.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Deplorable Taxes

Deplorable taxes maket people poorer, yet few oppose them.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Is the US Election Rigged?

Voter fraud threatens democracy. The remedy was proposed long ago by Thomas Jefferson.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Make the Deep-Data-Depositors De-classify

There is a law that’d uncover the sum of all rents—if obeyed.

Jeffery J. Smith

Call in the Cavalry—the Moneybags

Good data costs big bucks. Who’s willing to spend their money to make public the worth of Earth?

Jeffery J. Smith

Eliminate Electronic Voting

Electronic voting can be and has been manipulated.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

The Fallacy of Excessive Premise Extension

The Fallacy of Excessive Premise Extension

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

The Blessings of Cash

Eliminating cash would deprive us of blessings. The problems with cash such as for tax evasion can be cured by taxing what cannot be evaded: land.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Status Update, 2016: the real estate boom and bust

The real estate cycle continues, so we can benefit from seeing where we are on the timeline.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Does a Tax on Land Imply Not Owning the Land?

The objection to land-value taxation because it denies ownership is rebutted.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

The Privatization of the Moon is Coming

Entry into commercial space travel could bring reduction in environmental damage costs, find new resources and unlimited related applications; productivity gains for next boom.

Type I Civilization Issues

How would advanced extraterrestrial beings view humanity? As humans, do we "come in peace?"

Markets: Getting Past the Debate

While there is a lot of discussion about whether to regulate markets or not, there is little talk about being outside of markets

Position: Social Media Manager

Progress.org has an opening for the volunteer position of Social Media Manager. Expected time investment would be around 5 hours a week.

Another Job Killer: Section 385

Yet another regulation is being proposed, to treat effects rather than cure the cause of capital flight.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Replace Minimum Wages with the Earned Income Tax Credit

Minimum wage laws have a superficial appeal, but are much less effectie than the earned income tax credit.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

California’s Deforestation Project

Fears and mistaken ideas are about to create an environmental disaster in California.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

U.S. Government Voiding the First Amendment

Freedom is lost when unintended offense prohibits expression.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

The Conservation of the Laws of Science

Economics, like other sciences, does not change. The principles of prosperity are eternal.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Curious About Earth’s Worth? Pay Up!

One way to keep the curious ignorant is to raise the price for knowledge—until demand overwhelms gatekeepers.

Jeffery J. Smith

A Guide to the Economically Perplexed

People are puzzled by economic failure, but basic economics guides us to remedies.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Critics Want Other Stats: Why Not Rents?

There are successful groups using stats, churning out stats, and demanding better official stats. May their voices join ours.

Jeffery J. Smith

Earned Income and Unearned Income

Taxes distinguish between earned and unearned income, but tax definitions are different from economic meanings.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Defend the Alamo, Damn the Torpedoes, Mix the Metaphors

The quest to know the worth of Earth takes a rocky road with detours but we’re on it for the long haul.

Jeffery J. Smith

At This Tipping Point, Can We Back Off?

People have bigger problems than measuring the “rents”. Or do they?

Jeffery J. Smith

Unfinished Business

Until somebody measures the worth of Earth, many other issues must remain unresolved.

Jeffery J. Smith

When all your original strategies don’t pan out, better stop and take stock, figure out what went wrong and if anything can go right.

Jeffery J. Smith

Unreasoned Induction

The failure to understand logic is a major cause of violence.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

All Creek, No Paddle

Is this the end of the line? Are there no more strategies for learning the worth of Earth? Has every stone been turned over?

Jeffery J. Smith

A tax on car milage?

A hidden purpose of proposals for vehicle distance taxes is the elimination of taxes on land value.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Principles of an Optimal Tax Policy

The principles of a good tax system point to land value taxation as optimal

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Teach Natural Law

People often do evil thinking they are doing right, and that is why we need to teach natural law.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Review of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins

Conspiracy arguments are always suspect, since they typically have plausibility but no compelling proof.

H. William Batt, Ph.D.

American Wealth and Real Estate

The economic data collected by the Federal Reserve includes real estate but leaves out the importance of land value and rent.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

In the Belly of the Fed

Their silence and protestations of ignorance aside, logically, the Federal Reserve must know the value of US land.

Jeffery J. Smith

A New Model of the Economy, by Brian Hodgkinson

A New Model of the Economy presents a rational and clear theory of economic prosperity. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to gain an in-depth understanding of economics.

Privilege versus Detriment

When we call disadvantages “detriments,” the direction of reform can be clearer than when we speak of “privileges”.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Ruffling More Than Feathers

You think those seeking change might climb abord the quest to know Earth's worth?

Jeffery J. Smith

Land-Value Tax and the Timing of Development

Some environmentalists think that land-value taxation promotes too much development, but in fact LVT promotes an efficient use of land.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

No Trespassing on Fields of Knowledge

Whether enclosing pastures or fields of knowledges, the legal enablers—patents and copyrights—generate fortunes, undue or not.

Jeffery J. Smith

The Sales Tax: History of Its Fallen Champions

The sales tax has a long and fractured history. It doesn’t make sense to repeat it.

Mason Gaffney, Ph.D.

Land Rent as a Tax

The taxes we pay can include some of the rent.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Utilities Monopolize Land

The prices you pay go up whenever monopolies get their way. Will prices still rise if technology does in monopolies?

Jeffery J. Smith

Removing Damages

Once we heal Earth, we not only heal ourselves but also enrich whoever ends up with the fatter rents for healed land.

Jeffery J. Smith

Apparel in Peril

A high minimum wage plus taxes are driving the textile industry out of California and the USA. A rent-sharing free market would increase both wages and employment.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Is a Sales Tax Voluntary?

Advocates of a national sales tax falsely claim that the tax is voluntary, and do not understand the implications.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Where Does Rent Come From?

Contrary to popular thought, the surplus of production is not wages or profits, but land rent.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Hobbes and Kaldor on Taxing Expenditure

The alternatives of taxing income versus spending is a fallacy of the excluded option.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

What’s the Cost of America?

If there are reasons to be encouraged, to not foolishly feel hope, then you have to know them.

Jeffery J. Smith

Could a 137 Year-Old Equation Explain the Financial Collapse?

These days, only First Peoples hold to 'outdated' traditions: That land should be rented, not sold. We know better now, or so we think.

With the Help of Leaders

We have elected politicians to serve us. Here's chance to ask them to do their job in a very big way.

Jeffery J. Smith

When to Preserve? When to Develop?

Powerful people with limited values tell us losing pristine nature is good for us. How can we tell when it’s not?

Jeffery J. Smith

Morality is the basis of proper governance.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

When Less Is Less

When public servants quit serving, to whom do you turn? Somebody out there must be the true answer man, eh?

Jeffery J. Smith

Real Estate 4 Ransom

Land is the most precious physical gift we have. “Real Estate for Ransom” shows how real estate speculation is responsible for the decline in culture and human society.

Wildlife Conservation

Economist Fred Harrison talks with conservationist Peter Smith about how the economy produces environmental disasters, and what solutions can create a environmental sustainability.

Make Prices Reward “Green” Choices

Target the most sensitive body part—the wallet. Make prices tell the truth. Earth as object of speculation? Not with geonomics.

Jeffery J. Smith

The Game of Monopoly versus Equopoly

The Monopoly game originated as an economic lesson, and still offers economic policy insights.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Up to My Own Best Guess

You can hear how much Earth is worth from somebody afraid of the answer or from one who's determined to tell the truth.

Jeffery J. Smith

City Density—Friend of Trip Efficiency

Cities cater to cars, not people. New fuels, motors, and modes of transport all pale beside fewer, shorter trips.

Jeffery J. Smith

Oshan Cook: A Call for Presidential Clemency

Seeking Presidential Clemency for Oshan Cook is not only the right thing to do—it’s a quick and easy task you can do right now.

Buildings Waste Energy. But We Tax’em!

You want efficient buildings yet you tax them—improving them raises their tax liability. How rational is that? Not very. So do something else!

Jeffery J. Smith

The Right to Arbitrarily Discriminate

Arbitrary discrimination is a social vice, but liberty requires freedom of association.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

Land Worth = More than Enough

There is enough for all of us. But will we look in the right places?

Officials Guesstimate the Price of Non-Housed Lots

The US owns about 1/3 of America and from it raises revenue—enough for all Americans?

Jeffery J. Smith

It's possible to pay for public goods without taxation in substance.

Fred Foldvary, Ph.D.

At the Official Data Watering Holes

People tend to think an official stat is the answer. But is it? Is it accurate? Tainted by politics? Is the unofficial better?

Jeffery J. Smith

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