Hi Martin.

I accept that investment in property is mostly unproductive, which is why a Land Value Tax is so important.

But the financial assets I describe are mostly engaged productively (i.e. the money is being invested in some productive activity — gov’t spending, business investment, bank lending). Obviously some might be invested in things we don’t want (fossil fuels, for example), but we can tackle that separately with a Carbon Tax and gradually regulating these things out of existence.

Devising an effective tax system is a complex task, but, on balance I think we currently have got it right. The Green Party’s current fiscal proposals would shift taxation away from workers, renters, small business, locally provided services and non-polluters, and towards land ownership, big corporations, tax avoiders, imports and polluters.

I totally agree that tax is about encouraging the right resource allocation, not punishing people we dislike. I genuinely believe that that’s what we have (largely) achieved with our current policy platform