In another story in the Irish Independent from yesterday ("Lenihan planning a stealth Budget," Fionnan Sheahan, 10/06/08), "The disastrous €11.5 [billion] black hole in the public coffers last week has thrown everything open as an option."
Everything? Then may we suggest — as we have once or twice previously — that the government of Ireland take a close look at the Capital Homesteading proposal of the Center for Economic and Social Justice?
The following figures developed for the United States suggest that similar results can be expected for any country that adopts Capital Homesteading as a national policy. Ireland, in fact, would be particularly suited for such a move, as it shares a common language with the U.S., where Capital Homesteading has been developed, a similar legal system, and a similar cultural heritage.
If Capital Homesteading were to be enacted today in the United States, we estimate that a child born today would by the age of 65 have accumulated nearly $500,000 in income-generating assets, be enjoying annual consumption income from dividends of $45,000, and have a lifetime aggregate dividend income through age 65 of $1.6 million.
Capital Homesteading is designed to provide industry, commerce, and agriculture with credit and liquidity on easy terms at the same time it builds direct ownership of the means of production into ordinary people who previously lacked the means to acquire and possess private property. At the same time that it increases the tax base, it reduces financial demands on the State. Once the current load of debt of a country is retired, taxes can be reduced and social services actually increased for those in need as their number diminishes.
If "everything is an option," isn't it time to consider an option that's viable?
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