The Taxing Question of Land
Recession, unemployment, poverty, a lack of funding for public services, battling the deficit, the rising cost of health care, not having enough money to buy a home... what is the source to these economic troubles? Why is it so hard to afford a roof over our heads? Is land ownership connected in any way? Can the nation sustain growth while being responsible to each other? What would that responsible system look like?
It's really important we take notice of the fact that land is the most important resource in our economy? Clearly our stewardship of land takes us right to the heart of what it means to be human. Things that belong to everybody, things that are given and provided by nature, if we can privatize those then really freedom is not free.
Historic laws favor those who own the land, but today everyone believes in economic justice... so the problem is how do we achieve that? We have to make good use of our land and it has to not just respond to the economy but it has to drive the economy. So the challenge then is how do you make the value of land equally available to all.
The UK has 60 million acres of land and a growing population of 63 million. The way population interacts with this land creates value for the UK. The question of how to redistribute this value back to all of the population is at the heart of the taxation system. But the present system is flawed, unfair and it stifles growth, yet there is hope.
There are politicians, economists and academics working towards an alternative system; a system that is responsible, fair and sustains growth; a system that can find common ground across the political spectrum. This film will highlight the context and the importance of this alternative as well as consider how the UK can achieve this change in the system.
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