The Pew Charitable Trusts are doing a series of studies on the fiscal health of US states. Their paper, “From Volatile Severance Taxes to Sustained Revenue” discusses how money received from minerals is a significant cause of volatility in the state government budgets. They also discuss how minerals deplete and often they leave nothing once the minerals are exhausted. While they suggest greater …
Tag: USA
How everyone in the US can get $200 a month
Authors James Boyce and Peter Barnes discuss in a recent article how a universal income of $200 per month could be financed from fees charged for the commons. Peter Barnes is a long standing supporter of citizens dividends from the commons. #BasicIncome #CitizensDividend
Is Jay Hammond having the last laugh
Alaska’s Permanent Fund and the Permanent Fund Dividend was the brainchild of Jay Hammond. The origins of the idea was from the sharing of the income from salmon runs (a renewable resource) in the area he lived. It was extended to the creation of a Permanent Fund from the receipts from oil (a non-renewable). His intention was to keep the oil money …
Mesa County, Colorado sets up a Permanent Fund
In the US, the land owner owns the sub-soil mineral rights. However, the federal government is a substantial land owner. The federal government distributes some of its royalties to the County. The Mesa County Federal Mining Lease District Board of Directors explains why it is setting up a Permanent Fund, in contrast with the state of Colorado: “In Colorado all these …