International Union for Land Value Taxation

Overview

The International Union for Land Value Taxation (the IU) is the worldwide federation of Georgist and land-value-taxation organisations. It links national groups — from the UK and Australia to the Americas and beyond — into a coordinated international movement, and describes itself as "an international umbrella organisation for land value tax reformers" with "members in countries around the world — activists, politicians, professionals and academics."[3]

The IU was formed in July 1926, originally as the International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade.[2] The 1926 founding is corroborated by independent sources: the Henry George School's archival finding aid dates the organisation's founding to "July 1926,"[2] and Wikipedia records it as founded 1926, based in London.[3] The IU states that, "Established in 1926, the purpose of the IU is to promote sustainable prosperity for all via public finance policy reform." It seeks, in its own words, to address wealth inequality and harmonize individual freedom with rights to the commons by reducing taxes on labour and production while collecting for public purposes the unearned income — the "economic rent" — of land, natural resources, and other nature- and community-created values.[1]

Role

The IU holds international conferences, publishes on land and tax policy, and assembles "a team of highly qualified consultants who are willing and able to assist cities, countries and other levels of government in the implementation of land value taxation policy."[1] It represents the movement in international forums: the IU has consulting (Special Consultative) status with the United Nations ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council),[1][3] and coordinates a team of UN representatives — a channel through which figures such as Alanna Hartzok, the IU's Administrative Director, have carried land-value-capture and resource-rent-sharing arguments into UN development forums.

It serves as the connective tissue among the many national bodies — Prosper Australia, Common Ground USA, the Henry George Foundation (UK), the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation tradition, and others — sustaining Georgism as a global rather than purely national project.

Significance

The IU's near-century of continuous operation reflects the international reach Henry George achieved in his lifetime, when Progress and Poverty was translated worldwide and inspired movements on several continents.

See Also

• Prosper Australia · Common Ground USA · Henry George Foundation (UK) · Robert Schalkenbach Foundation · Alanna Hartzok · Georgism

Sources

1. International Union for Land Value Taxation (the IU) — "About Us." theIU.org — used (fetched directly this session) for the "Established in 1926" statement, the stated purpose ("promote sustainable prosperity for all via public finance policy reform" and the economic-rent framing, quoted verbatim), the consultants programme, and the UN ECOSOC consulting status.
2. Henry George School of Social Science, archival finding aid: "The International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade, 1926–1991." hgarchives.org — independent confirmation that the IU "was formed in July 1926" and of its original name including "and Free Trade."
3. "The IU," Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_IU — used for founded 1926, London location, "Special Consultative Status at the United Nations," and the umbrella-organisation description (tertiary source, consistent with 1 and 2).