Mason Gaffney

Merrill Mason Gaffney (October 18, 1923 – July 16, 2020) was an American economist and Georgist who wrote The Corruption of Economics: Neo-classical Economics as a Strategem against Henry George.

Quotes

The Corruption of Economics (1994)

• It was Mill who popularized the idea of raising taxes on landowners only after first compensating them, thus buying the right to tax them. It was a selective scruple: neither Mill nor anyone, to my knowledge, ever proposed compensating workers, consumers, or the owners of capital before taxing them. It was something of a red herring, because it assured that net revenues would be about zero. It simply gave debaters something to chew on while precluding meaningful action.
  • Pg 45

• Mr. Wharton's views are not stated, but might be inferred from the Wharton estate's holding of 100,000 acres in New Jersey, lying between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. This land supported towns and industries in the 18th century, but under the Whartons went out of use
  • Pg 51