A Philosophy for a Fair Society: 2nd Edition

With the eclipse of the New Right, politicians now admit that society is in crisis. Something must be done, but, explain the authors, governments will fail again unless they shake off the economic orthodoxy which is now one of the problems rather than the means to a solution. This book investigates the roots of the problem, both historically and theoretically. Dr Michael Hudson draws on archaeology and history, from Bronze Age Mesopotamia through Rome to Byzantium, to show how a destructive virus crept into the body politic. This led to a breakdown in man’s relation to the environment and divided society into a wealthy ruling oligarchy and an impoverished majority. The Welfare State is an attempt to remedy this inequality. However, despite the escalating cost to taxpayers, the Welfare State has failed to stop the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Drawing on medical evidence, Dr George Miller demonstrates that not only have the poorest grown poorer relatively, but their health has suffered disproportionately. Hence people born into the lowest classes still have a greater chance of dying before they can enjoy their pensions. A century ago Henry George, in his world-famous Progress and Poverty, asked why there still was poverty, when the Industrial Revolution had made it possible to make in a day what had taken weeks or months previously. Dr Kris Feder shows how the Georgist paradigm provides an ideal way of tackling the many ills besetting the industrialised and third worlds. Nobel prize-winning economists recommend it as the way forward for Russia. Dr Feder clears away misrepresentations of George’s thesis and explains how it would not only lead to a fairer distribution of wealth, but would also simplify the tax system.

Dr. Miller, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, is a senior clinical scientist with the Medical Research Council’s Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit in London. He is an international expert in diseases of the heart. He was a professor in Residence in Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, in the 1980s. Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of The Bubble and Beyond (2012), Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire (1968 & 2003), Trade, Development and Foreign Debt (1992 & 2009) and of The Myth of Aid (1971). Kris Feder, of Bard College, working with economist Michael Hudson, assesses the extent to which capital gains accrue as economic rent and the distribution of benefits of a capital gains tax cut to the real estate industry. In one study, Feder and Hudson assess the effect of rent on consumer budgets. National Income and Product Accounts statistics show that rental housing has remained a steady 4 percent of national income since World War II, while the imputed rent for owner-occupied housing has risen from 4 to 8 percent. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that during the same period rental costs have risen from 21 to 25 percent of disposable personal income. Feder and Hudson’s initial findings suggest that the real estate gains of landlords and bankers during this period have been made at the expense of consumers and state and local governments. Their preliminary analysis from a second study, on the neglected role of real estate in the capital gains debate, reveals that 60 percent of capital gains accrue as real estate gains. Therefore, a reduction in the capital gains tax rate would benefit primarily the real estate industry, rewarding land speculation more than new direct investme Dr. Miller, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, is a senior clinical scientist with the Medical Research Council’s Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit in London. He is an international expert in diseases of the heart. He was a professor in Residence in Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, in the 1980s. Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of The Bubble and Beyond (2012), Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire (1968 & 2003), Trade, Development and Foreign Debt (1992 & 2009) and of The Myth of Aid (1971)