Thanks, good to recall this. I list many resource rent domains in my book and also delineate resource rent charges local to global. Free pdf here: https://theiu.org/books/ - The Earth Belongs to Everyone
Sam, wonderful piece. We were considering writing on this topic as well, you have given us some things to think about. I do wonder if it might be beneficial to delay the implementation of Georgist-style taxes, at least until space industry develops on a more mature level. What are your thoughts?
I haven't given too much thought to how these policies should be rolled out. I agree that premature regulation can be damaging, especially when we don't know how an industry works yet.
I expect different domains will require different timing. GEO is already getting crowded, but we won't run out of room on Mars anytime soon. For places where space industry barely exists, it's better to wait and see what kinds of property rights and taxes encourage healthy growth (some form of property rights or regulation may be necessary to make industry possible).
Where taxation is necessary, the best approach is to start with very low taxes that get phased in slowly (you can think of the "no tax" scenario as one which the LVT rate is set to 0%). As you phase in the tax, you will inevitably run into unforeseen problems that you can adapt to before scaling up. It's safer to undershoot the the tax rate in most cases.
Agreed, undershooting is better. That's why we prefer an 85 percent tax rate rather than a full 100 LVT. We need a new term though, "LVT" is limiting, especially in the context of space. I bookmarked your website, maybe you can join us on Substack with your own site as well. :)
Thanks, good to recall this. I list many resource rent domains in my book and also delineate resource rent charges local to global. Free pdf here: https://theiu.org/books/ - The Earth Belongs to Everyone
Sam, wonderful piece. We were considering writing on this topic as well, you have given us some things to think about. I do wonder if it might be beneficial to delay the implementation of Georgist-style taxes, at least until space industry develops on a more mature level. What are your thoughts?
I haven't given too much thought to how these policies should be rolled out. I agree that premature regulation can be damaging, especially when we don't know how an industry works yet.
I expect different domains will require different timing. GEO is already getting crowded, but we won't run out of room on Mars anytime soon. For places where space industry barely exists, it's better to wait and see what kinds of property rights and taxes encourage healthy growth (some form of property rights or regulation may be necessary to make industry possible).
Where taxation is necessary, the best approach is to start with very low taxes that get phased in slowly (you can think of the "no tax" scenario as one which the LVT rate is set to 0%). As you phase in the tax, you will inevitably run into unforeseen problems that you can adapt to before scaling up. It's safer to undershoot the the tax rate in most cases.
Agreed, undershooting is better. That's why we prefer an 85 percent tax rate rather than a full 100 LVT. We need a new term though, "LVT" is limiting, especially in the context of space. I bookmarked your website, maybe you can join us on Substack with your own site as well. :)