Centro Educativo Internacional Henry George ... Managua, Nicaragua ceihgceihg.org

NOTICIAS, Julio 2011

CEIHG Graduates Two More Comprender La Economía Courses
"Georgist Community Fund": New Paradigm for the Georgist Movement
Georgist Development Plan Gets Green Light From Nica Government

CEIHG Graduates Two More Comprender La Economía Courses

The Centro Henry George's 43rd and 44th intensive "Comprender la Economía" (CE) political economy courses graduated 18 and 25 students in April and July 2011, respectively. Click here for complete "Comprender La Economía" Course Statistics, 2000-2011.

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"Georgist Community Fund": New Paradigm for the Georgist Movement.

The CEIHG initiated a membership association for superior level graduates of the "Comprender la Economía" (CE) course. The "Georgist Community Fund" (Fondo Comunitario Georgista en español) represents a fundamental paradigmatic shift in the CEIHG's strategy for expanding consciousness of the georgists economic paradigm and reform proposal in Nicaragua and the world. The purpose of the GCF (FCG) is to grow an integrated body of "qualified georgists" in a formal association which supports the maintenance and growth of georgist consciousness and group identity as "georgists" as well as providing a practical mechanism for the group to demonstrate and practice the principle of the collection and equal distribution of land value rent. The new approach is to focus on expanding georgist consciousness and influence via internal membership growth, as opposed to trying to rely soley on traditional means of education, publicity and persuasion to convince the "world" to give up its adaptation and addiction to the slave economy. This approach is similar to strategies of successful membership organizations such at religious organizations, 12 Step anonymous organizations, etc. The CEIHG hopes to expand the membership of the GCF internationally even as it initially expands in Nicaragua, with participation and facilitation possible through existing georgist educational and activist organizations, as well as the establishment of new GCF chapters worldwide.

There are currently 15 members in the GCF association, signed up April-July, and another 18 have been qualified with membership pending. To qualify for membership in the GCF, an applicant must first have passed a GCF authorized georgist political economy course (whose main text is Progress and Poverty by Henry George) at a "superior" level (80% or higher in the case of the CEIHG's CE course) and also must score 70% or better in the course's rigorous final exam. (Those who don't reach the minimum level of their course's final exam, may take the GCF's qualifying exam various times in the year.) Once qualified, the applicant must read and sign a declaration and agreement of membership to become an active member in the GCF. To maintain active membership during the year, members must participate in one georgist oriented activity and attend one georgist organization meeting every quarter. There are currently no membership or other fees. At the end of the year, members who have sent documentation of their quarterly participation requirements are given credit for each quarter they were active and then receive proportional participation in the distribution of the "Common Fund" of the GCF. During the year, members may voluntarily make donations to the "Common Fund" from their actual land rent surplus or as a symbolic payment of land rent. There is no requirement to donate to the fund, nor informal mechanisms of coercion or peer pressure to do so. Participation in the GCF is virtually free and completely voluntary in all respects.

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Georgist Development Plan Gets Green Light From Nica Government

In March, the CEIHG Director met with Managua authorities to propose the development of the centrally located volcanic crater lake "Laguna de Tiscapa." The proposal, as outlined by Director Martin, called for the full development of an innovative "ecologically integrated" semi-vertical commercial-business-tourism park financed via public and private investment. Though the development plan itself is an attractive concept, the most innovative part of the plan is its georgist financial inventive and revenue collecting strategy: to collect the area's land rent and exonerate labor, capital investment and commerce from taxation in the the zone. The park would be initially financed with international donations and loans for the initial infrastructure work. Then, long-term lease concessions (40-50 years) of the buildable lots around the lagoon would be put up for public auction by the Managua Alcaldía, which would remain the full owner of the zone's land and land rent. The concessions would require the payment of annually assessed land value (land rent) to the Alcaldía, while allowing tax-exempt construction, industry and commerce in accordance with the traditional and ecological theme of the park. Both the municipal collection of land rent and the exoneration of productive activities have years of precedence in Nicaraguan economic planning laws in the Zona Franca (free trade zone) and tourism exoneration laws. The CEIHG plans to create the initial technical and arquitectural proposal (including an impressive 3D model), to be submitted to the Alcaldía and presented to the public, with the assistance of Nicaraguan university arquitectural and engineering schools.

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