Now the Synthesis: Capitalism, Socialism and the New Social Contract

Summary

Now the Synthesis: Capitalism, Socialism and the New Social Contract (1991) is an edited volume published by the Centre for Incentive Taxation Ltd, London (Shepheard-Walwyn) and New York (Holmes & Meier). The book brings together essays by Nicolaus Tideman, Fred Harrison, James Busey, David Richards, Jürgen Backhaus, Jacob Jan Krabbe, and others, with an introductory essay by editor Richard Noyes titled "Dialectics and the Millennium: Emergence of the Synthesis." The volume argues that land value taxation offers a "synthesis" between capitalism and socialism — preserving market freedom while restoring the community's claim on economic rent (Noyes 1991, p.13).

Noyes frames the book as articulating an "applied philosophy" for the post-Cold War era, arguing that both Western individualism and Eastern statism had "exaggerated the potential for conflict" by over-simplifying individual and collective rights (Noyes 1991, p.11). The volume's thesis is that Henry George's principle — that land value is created by community and should be returned to community — represents the emerging social synthesis, observable in diverse phenomena from UK "planning gain" to ecological tax reform and post-socialist transitions in Eastern Europe.

Core Findings

The Constitutional Case for 100% LVT (Tideman, Ch. 2)

Nicolaus Tideman argues that 100% land value taxation, introduced without compensation, would not be barred by the US constitutional prohibition of uncompensated takings if introduced as a constitutional rather than legislative matter. Tideman draws an analogy to the abolition of slavery: the Fourteenth Amendment explicitly denied compensation for emancipated slaves, establishing that "those who held slaves should have known that it is not possible for one human being to own another" (Tideman 1991, p.56). Similarly, Tideman argues, "no one can have a claim to own land, because no one made the land" (Tideman 1991, p.56).

Tideman distinguishes between 100% LVT (requiring constitutional consensus) and incremental property tax reform (shifting taxes from improvements to land), which "probably causes land prices to rise on average" since land becomes more valuable when improvements carry no additional tax liability (Tideman 1991, p.58). The latter, having "nothing like a taking," is "fair game for ordinary politics" (Tideman 1991, p.58).

Planning Gain as Implicit Land Value Taxation (Harrison, Ch. 3)

Fred Harrison analyzes UK "planning gain" — the practice of local authorities extracting benefits from developers in exchange for planning permission. Harrison argues this is "a partial demonstration of the principle that Henry George established, i.e., that the value of land is created by the community and should justly be returned to the community" (Harrison 1991, p.61). When farmland is converted to housing, land value increases "can be a thousandfold" (Harrison 1991, p.63).

Harrison documents the evolution from the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act's "betterment" concept (later abandoned), through the Development Land Tax of 1976 (abolished 1985 as "ineffective"), to the informal Planning Gain system of the 1980s (Harrison 1991, p.63). He cites the Canary Wharf agreement (1987), where Tower Hamlets Borough Council secured 2,000 jobs and £2.5m for training from developers of the 71-acre site (Harrison 1991, p.64).

Post-Socialism and the Single Tax (Busey, Ch. 4)

James Busey argues that the single tax offers a "holistic philosophy" for post-socialist societies, presenting it as compatible with both market economics and social justice. [VERIFY — detailed page citations needed from Ch. 4]

The Greens and the Tax on Rent (Richards, Ch. 5)

David Richards examines the connection between ecological taxation and land value taxation, arguing that environmental degradation is linked to the failure to tax economic rent. [VERIFY — detailed page citations needed from Ch. 5]

Incentive Taxation and the Environment (Backhaus & Krabbe)

Jürgen Backhaus and Jacob Jan Krabbe argue that incentive taxation (taxing land and resource rents rather than labor and capital) is environmentally beneficial, though "complex — yet feasible" (Backhaus & Krabbe 1991, p.10). [VERIFY — detailed page citations needed]

International Trade and Rent (Ch. 5)

The volume's section on international trade argues that free trade principles are consistent with rent capture, and that "preserving the fruits of liberty" requires removing tax burdens from production (Noyes 1991, p.10).

Policy Recommendations

• 100% Land Value Taxation: Tideman argues for full rent capture without compensation, pursued through constitutional consensus rather than narrow coalition politics (Tideman 1991, p.57)
• Property Tax Reform: Shifting taxes from improvements to land as an incremental step appropriate for "ordinary politics" (Tideman 1991, p.58)
• Planning Gain Formalization: Harrison argues that the informal UK planning gain system should be recognized as a land value tax mechanism and formalized (Harrison 1991, p.63)
• Ecological Tax Reform: Backhaus & Krabbe advocate shifting taxation from production to resource rents (Backhaus & Krabbe 1991, p.10)

Nuances and Limits

• The book is an edited volume with varying levels of analytical rigor across chapters; some claims are normative rather than empirical
• Tideman's constitutional argument for uncompensated 100% LVT is a normative philosophical position; its legal viability remains untested [VERIFY]
• The post-socialist chapters were written in 1991, before the outcomes of post-Soviet transitions were known
• Planning gain data is UK-specific; generalizability to other jurisdictions is not directly addressed

Key Quotes

"George's most controversial prescription, therefore, was that the community should recover all the land rents that the creation of freehold tenancies had alienated into private ownership." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 158

"The rules by which land is occupied dictate the way people relate to each other and determine the success with which they interact. The system of land tenure may be used to divide people, or to integrate them into healthy communities. Examples of the former case are the apartheid laws of South Africa, which created the Bantustans to segregate races, and the large rural estates of Latin America which also vouchsafe the best land to a few." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 158

"That every person in every generation has an equal right to the use of land was Henry George's basic moral axiom. It is one with which few people would disagree, and it is certainly common ground in the Green movement. Collection of land rent by the community is not commonly perceived as its necessary logical outcome, however." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 159

"Socialists see the connection, but go on to make the fatal mistake of proscribing private ownership of land altogether, thereby missing another connection — between private decision-making and prosperity." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 159

"Henry George's message appears destined to fall between political stools. To Greens it offers equitable sharing of the world's natural resources; to non-Greens, economic efficiency and, hence, growth. Within both groups, it offers thoroughgoing private ownership of producible goods and services to those of Rightward persuasion, and untrammelled social ownership of natural resources to those of Leftward persuasion." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 159

"Is it conceivable that classical social theory, especially that of an almost forgotten eighteenth century French physiocracy as further refined at the hands of Henry George (which I shall call geocracy), might fill a doctrinal gap and be suitable both for the preservation of freedom and for the resolution of human travail?" — James Busey, Ch. on Post-socialism and the Single Tax, p. 113

"The aims of land tenure policy were to: re-establish land as a common heritage and community asset, no longer subject to monopoly or speculative pressures; establish for all equal right to occupy land; guarantee security of tenure to occupiers of land on this new basis; ensure that returns from land which are in no way due to the efforts of individuals shall accrue to the community. This is a perfect statement of the Georgist position." — David Richards, Ch. on Ecology and Eco-Politics, p. 160

Bears On

• Land Value Tax — the volume's central policy prescription
• Single Tax — the foundational concept the volume synthesizes
• Community Creates Land Value — Harrison's planning gain analysis directly supports this narrative
• Land-Value Capture — the UK planning gain discussion
• Georgism — the book's overall synthesis argument
• Ecological Georgism — the Backhaus/Krabbe and Richards chapters
• Nicolaus Tideman — author of the constitutional property rights chapter
• Fred Harrison — author of the planning gain chapter

See Also

• Richard Noyes — editor's author page
• Land Value Tax
• Single Tax
• Fred Harrison
• Nicolaus Tideman
• Community Creates Land Value
• The Corruption of Economics

Sources

1. Richard Noyes (ed.), Now the Synthesis: Capitalism, Socialism and the New Social Contract (London: Shepheard-Walwyn; New York: Holmes & Meier, 1991). Centre for Incentive Taxation Ltd. — primary source for all claims; verified against primary text 2026-07-07 (Scan Depth: Heavy).
2. Nicolaus Tideman, "Property Rights and the Social Contract: the constitutional challenge in the USA," in Noyes 1991, pp. 47–58 — constitutional argument for 100% LVT (C-claim; normative/philosophical).
3. Fred Harrison, "'Planning Gain': the making of a tax on land values," in Noyes 1991, pp. 59–68 — UK planning gain analysis (B-claim; empirical/policy).
4. Jürgen Backhaus and Jacob Jan Krabbe, "Incentive Taxation and the Environment: complex — yet feasible," in Noyes 1991 — ecological taxation chapter (C-claim; theoretical).
5. David Richards, "The Greens and the Tax on Rent," in Noyes 1991 — ecological-Georgist synthesis (C-claim; theoretical).
6. James Busey, "Post-socialism and the Single Tax: a holistic philosophy," in Noyes 1991 — post-socialist transition chapter (C-claim; theoretical).