Peter Gibb asks some of the delegates at last week's 24th IU conference about their impressions of the conference - and their plans for the coming year.
Fernando Scornik Gerstein, lead organiser of the conference
The first thing we have to do is to consolidate and to expand our movement in Spain. As you know, Spain had a long provision of enthusiasm for land reform and a movement which was completely suppressed under the dictatorship of General Franco. Most important land reformers were shot or put in prison and the movement was disbanded. But there is a long tradition in Spain of interest in the land problem and I think now we have to work very hard to try to make our organisation a larger and better organisation.
Professor Frank Peddle, Dominicain College
We're having a meeting with the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. We will have an extensive session with them on various tax issues. They are the federal taxation authority for income tax and VAT tax, and we will discuss what land issues we can deal with in the context of the capital gains tax here in Spain. There are also some other issues - even the income tax. There are some exemptions a that should be looked at and revisited, so we're hoping that maybe we can get some reforms at the national level that would scoop up more economic rent for the Spanish treasury.
Continuing on, maybe expanding, opening up some doors for the Madrid organisation that sponsored this conference. They're a new organisation, we're very happy to have them on our side and we hope they can perhaps continue the work on the ground here in Madrid after everybody has scattered back to their home countries.
Tatiana Roshkoshnaya
I see my mission like bringing people to the important events organised by the UN Habitat. Because a lot of topics which are to be discussed there are relevant to our concern and the land problem. And in addition I think that I have to continue what I was doing from the beginning at UN Habitat and that is to assist my colleagues in better understanding of the theory and ideas behind land reform, and try to contribute. I can't do it alone but I can contribute to this shift in this direction in the work of UN Habitat. If we go step by step - and European countries are doing just a little bit - little by little there can be bigger things.
Alanna Hartzok, co-director of the Earthights Institute and one of the IU's UN representatives
I'll be preparing for participation in the UN Habitat cities conference, upcoming in September in Barcelona.
I would like to put together a documentary packet of information of georgist analysis about the housing crisis in various countries, the analysis of the state of affairs of the housing crisis, of what needs to be done about the housing crisis, of any historical or current models of land value tax in their countries.
This is to be a recommendation then, to the UN agencies and the local authorities of cities, to move forward beyond the neoliberal system to new paradigm economics. We do represent and hold the new paradigm economics vision so clearly so its time to really bring that up. This is a quantum leap beyond the neoliberal economics which are not working and there are housing crises everywhere so we have to show them that there's an entirely different vision that's viable and has had experience and implementation and success in implementation and experts who know how to implement a land value tax and land value capture and resource rent for public revenue system.
I am envisioning a very well put together publication to take to Barcelona to the UN Habitat conference.
Jacob Himmelstein
I personally will be involved in the proposal in my home city of Philadelphia to legislate land value tax as part of the tax package that the city council is at present discussing. And hopefully, by the next conference, we'll have a land value tax in Philadelphia since the city charter allows a Bill for land value tax to be passed. And perhaps we will even be showing that land value tax has an advantage to the city of Philadelphia in terms of economic growth. As far as what I'm taking away from the conference, I'm always encouraged by the International Union conferences because I realise that throughout the year there are other people working for justice.
Norman Slater
I do need to get up to date. I do need to read - study some of the stuff I got here. But it's certainly real work. Now I'm back on the executive of the IU, I will get involved again in the movement much more actively than I was before.
Thomas AmmitzBoll Bach, member of the executive board of the Danish Henry George Association
There are two things I hope to take home. One thing is about appearance. We have shop windows at our facilities in Copenhagen. I'd like to make them pretty. I'd like to make them attractive, and I'd like to make them provoking.
The second thing is about the NGO representation in the United Nations. I would go forth and see what I could do to make Henry George's thoughts be made available for developing habitants and facilities in the Third World.
Jeffrey Smith
These conferences in general give you the emotional fuel that you need. So it's recharging the batteries, to put it simply.
I have a publisher for a textbook so I'll be completing that and using some of the material that I got from Alanna Hartzok and Fred Foldvary who were at the conference. I'll be completing a video game that is going to teach geonomics, like the game Monopoly was invented to teach Henry George's economics a century ago. This is modernised to make it more fun to play and so forth. And also a screenplay to show the viewer what life would be like in a better society.
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