Economic rents must become partof the public discourse

"Rental income was 4.7 billion, or 0.079% of GDP in 1992", Economics (Third Edition), Karl Case and Ray Fair, Prentice Hall, 1994, p.559.

"Rental income is $7.9 billion of a total GNP of $5,234 billion, or 1.5 percent", Economics: Principles and Policy, Fifth Edition, William J Baumol and Alan S Blinder, Harcourt Brace, 1991, p.137.

"… land rent forms such a small percentage of national income: that 2% is nothing compared to the present tax percentages which is around 30", Income Distribution, Jan Pen, Pelican, 1974, p.210.

Although these gross misstatements are typical, work by the Land Values Research Group and Prosper Australia's Karl Fitzgerald's Total Resource Rents of Australia, 2013, show land and other economic rents to be a quarter of the Australian GDP which, although deserving of headlines, has been buried by the neo-classical economics fraternity who have a lie to uphold. Why is this exactly?

People would do well to demand answers from their economists and politicians about the vast quantum of community-created economic rent currently being privately purloined by the 1%, because ignorance on the subject allows the super-wealthy to continue capturing more and more of the GDP at the expense of the 99%.

Whilst we breast-beat about growing inequality, we ignore the mechanism that brings this about.

Yes, as you ask Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, we certainly DO understand that if this rotten budget isn't passed taxes may have to be increased.

But you won't acknowledge it's about FROM WHERE we get our taxes, otherwise you wouldn't be revelling in the fact that you're abolishing the mining tax. We NEED a mining tax guys, preferably like the original mining tax, the RSPT, which would have brought mining in line with Australia's non-controversial petroleum tax. Perhaps you might try to explain the difference between a resource rent on mining and one on petrol? Why should we NOT seek our fair return on both? Currently 80% of our mineral profits are repatriated overseas.

Is the Liberal Party ignorant of all these facts, or perhaps it acts as a tool for those speculators in Australia's land and natural resource rents who have directed us towards imminent financial calamity?

The Labor alternative is also running scared of the Henry Tax Review recommendations Tony and Joe, but it would be nice if you'd stop giving Australia's biggest rent-seekers a free ride at the same time you seek to penalise businesses, workers and the poor. You're treating Australians as mugs.