Instituto Henry George - Noticias

Poverty in Nicaragua is the result of an economically and socially dysfuncional land ownership policy, originated in the time of the Spanish Conquest, which allows a privileged minority to own as private property the majority of the most economically desireable lands and natural monopolies in Nicaragua. The result of the maintenance of this unproductive and unjust policy had been to create a culture adapted to the injustice and insecurity of continuous economic crisis and poverty, political divisiveness which at times borders on despotism and anarchy, and frustrating social limitations. The majority of Nicaraguans accept routine living conditions which, in practice, are in opposition to their government's prescribed social norms of personal security, public health, economic opportunity, individual freedom and democracy. As in most countries, the concentration of governing power tends to create an elite class which enact laws primarily designed to defend principles which justify their own economic and political privileges. In Nicaragua, the functional disconnect between the national policies of land ownership and proposed legislation to "combat poverty" is illustrated in surreal relief in the daily images of life in the Capital. The hope for the Nicaraguan people is that the georgist consciousness will continue to reveal to the population that the solution to the enigma of an empoverished country rich in natural resources and location advantages, is in a simple tax shift reform which will finally make Nicaraguan land and resource the common property of all Nicaraguans, as it was before the invasion of the 16th century mentality of conquest, land monopoly and economic slavery which still inhibits prosperity and justice in Nicaragua today.

Children working in the streets is just one of the costs of maintaining private property of land values as a publicly sanctioned institution.

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Recently, the Nicaraguan government has been looking at ways to increase its tax revenues without further impeding the private sector of the economy. Recent proposals have included reforming the municipal real estate tax (IBI). The IHG responded to an article about this tax reform and explained, via e-mail articles and television appearances, the georgist proposal for the simplification and expansion of the real estate tax to a public collection of only real (not speculative) land values, with the untaxing of all improvements. Another proposal supported by the government which seems to be recognizing the fundamental georgist principal that land is common property of all and must be administered as such, is the "Decent Housing Law" (Ley de Vivienda Digna). This proposed lawy intends to facilitate public housing by lowering costs of contruction and acquisition, fundamentally by requiring that the land used for the construction of the planned housing be sold to the government at non-speculative prices. During a meeting in August about the law, President Daniel Ortega said her supported the law as long as the state would obtain private lands at prices de catastro and not speculative prices, which make building public housing unfeasible for the government. See original article END. Because of some unverified information provided by some IHG members, the IHG believes that the Nicaraguan government is aware of the georgist proposal of the IHG and is tentatively including principles of the proposal in certain elements of its economic planning. It seems that the next year will be the year of opportunity for the IHG to further expand the teachings of George into the government. It will be a race against time and against the increasingly morally destructive influence of the deteriorating Nicaraguan and world economies.

Because of the institution of private property of land (site values) and the land value speculation which that engenders, the majority of valuable lots in Managua like this one do not exist as an economic factor of production for Nicaragua. By incrementally nationalizing the real value of land natural resources by means of a simple reform of the municipal real estate tax (IBI), land speculation would automatically be eliminated and all the productive land in Nicaragua which is now closed off from investment and production would be put on the market at prices that would allow their sustainable productive use.

After two years in the making, the IHG's new abbreviated version of Progreso y Miseria (Progress and Poverty) in Spanish was printed for limited publication. The text was edited directly from the original text in English in two complete revisions. The current first edition is a working draft which contains 150 pages of 8 1/2" by 11" text copied and bound in a looseleaf spiral format, suitable for use in the IHG's "Comprender la Economía" (CE) political economy course. The text will undergo an additional revision to correct errors for publication of a second edition for more general distribution in the coming year. A third edition with graphic illustrations and contemporary examples of georgist principles explained in the book will be printed in true book format at the end of next year. Since the first printing on September 22nd, 12 copies of the new text have been distributed as awards to outstanding superior level CE course graduates and another six copies as raffles prizes to participants who attended the IHG post-graduate meetings in Sept and Oct. Two copies have also been sold to the public. Many CE graduates and contacts of the IHG have expressed interest in acquiring the new text.

The new text of P&P in Spanish includes a new chapter on the history of land ownership in Nicaragua

From June to September, the IHG has executed a variety of public education tasks including: developing its education and outreach materials, such as the CE text and related course materials, and updating the IHG brochure; publishing and distributing four articles to media and government offices, and to a list of more than 900 e-mail recipients in Nicaragua; distributing 500+ informational flyers at a public rally in Managua; interviewing with a few influencial civic leaders; appearing in four interviews on three popular television programs. The IHG considers these activities as basic maintenance and investment in preparation for the more concentrated activities to be implemented starting in 2009 once the new CEIHG building is functional and the CE course materials updated and ready for use.

The IHG has been building up its membership participation via e-mail and weekly or monthly Superior Graduate meetings. Since the beginning of this year, the IHG has hosted 10 Superior Graduate meetings with a total of 52 superior level graduates attending a total of 120 times. Since August, the IHG has been in e-mail correspondence and phone contact with 188 different CE graduates. The IHG e-mails articles and IHG newsletters to more than 200 Superior-level CE course graduates, plus to another 320 CE intermediate and basic level graduates and CE applicants, approximately two to four times a month. Unfortunately, only about 25% of CE applicants and CE graduates maintain active e-mail addresses. Since the beginning of this year, the IHG has been encouraging CE graduates and applicants to acquire and maintain an e-mail address in order to facilitate increased communication with them.

The IHG building's basic structure is almost complete, and the last structural work is projected to be complete by the middle of November. Previous projections of the date of completion had to be pushed ahead by months due to heavy rains, material procurement problems, and slower than projected progress on some work by contractors. However, the building is looking pretty good and should be habitable by early next year. The IHG expects to be hosting its first CE course in the second floor classroom by early March of 2009. The IHG hopes that international supporters will feel encouraged by the commitment and consistent progress of the CEIHG development project to donate funds to assist the IHG in obtaining needed classroom furniture and A/V equipment in order to sooner initiate its activities in the new building.

The last external concrete structure of the CEIHG building, the third floor library, will be completed by mid-November.

"Work with passion, have fun, save the world!"
"Trabajar con pasión, divertirse, salvar el mundo!"

NOTICIAS, October 2008