To understand how the west might be lost it is important to remember how it was won.

Sir, Martin Wolf when reviewing Paul Collier’s “The Future of Capitalism” titles it as “An important analysis of how the west was lost” December 3.

I have not read it yet, but I will be attentive to if Collier gave the film “How the West was won” or John Kenneth Galbraith’s “Money; whence it came, where it went”, or something similar, any consideration when writing this book. That because risk-taking is the oxygen of any development and current regulators, having imposed on banks loony and dangerous risk adverse risk weighted capital requirements, have helped set the west on a downward path.

Wolf does tell us that Collier is for some “updated Henry George type taxation of rent on land, [arguing] we need to tax more forms of rent, including that from agglomeration, which now goes to lucky individuals and businesses.”

I assume “agglomeration” refers here to land and other assets? Of course, if that agglomeration produces higher cash-rents then those rents should be, and already are, mostly taxed, but, if land and assets are taxed on their value, if taxed, land and assets would have be sold, at ever lower and lower prices. How would that asset value deflation solve any problems?

Wolf writes that Collier’s starting point is one on which surely everybody agrees: “Deep rifts are tearing apart the fabric of our societies.” 

Indeed, but as I feel it, much of it is the result of polarization and redistribution profiteers having been so empowered by social media to merchandize their products of hate and envy.

Sir, I’ll stop here until I have read the book.

@PerKurowski

How do you tax land deemed “junk space”?

Nicholas D Rosen writes that Henry George, “writing in 1879, noted that if labour-saving technology reached perfection, labourers would get nothing and capitalists would get nothing; all production would go to the owners of land, as land would still be needed despite automation”, “Instead of taxing robots, tax the land” February 23

And Rosen uses that to argue for “letting people keep what they earn by their own efforts, and putting the burden of taxes on those who enjoy the privilege of holding land that they did nothing to create.”

“what they earn by their own efforts”? Oops I thought we were referring to robots.

“privilege of holding land”? Oops, most people don’t care one iota about land; they just want to be close to each other, preferably close to the 1%, in order to have a better chance to make it. Recently Kjell A Nordström, a Swedish economist, mentioned in that in 30 years five million will inhabit Greater Stockholm and that other parts of the country emptied of people would become economic "junk space".

@PerKurowski