Renegade Economists Podcast 188
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Professor Peter Newman (Curtin Uni) joins us for an in depth discussion on the peak oil era and the cities we will need. We examine the report he co-authored with Trubka and Bilsborough – Assessing the Costs of Alternative Development Paths in Australian Cities. (PDF 627 KB)
Points of note include how inner suburban living can save 4400 tonnes of greenhouse gases per 1000 homes (for more on this pls listen to the recent podcast with Dr Robert Crawford as per below). Some of the stats reeled off are from Table 4 of the report ie the additional cost of policing the sprawl is $388,416.
Prof Newman discusses how Land Value Capture is world’s best practice in financing infrastructure. How does it curb sprawl? Read about the Gold Coast Rapid Transport Corridor and the role LVC can play.
Listen to Prof Peter Newman
Listen to the recent show with Dr Robert Crawford discussing how location is the biggest determinant to our carbon footprint.
The above photo is of the bombsite opposite Melbourne’s Spencer St station. Vacant for over a decade, this picture is endemic of the game that land speculators play in undermining community and enforcing sprawl. The land value gains land bankers enjoy should be recycled back to the community, funding the new network of magnetic trains we so need.
3 Comments on “Prof Peter Newman on Infrastructure Financing”
Excellent interview. One of the best recent podcasts. I think that infrastructure financing is a good wedge issue for land value tax. Sustainable transportation and land use is an issue that a lot of people care about.
Cheers Jeff,
what other wedge issues should i be discussing on the show? Always looking for new angles. Eurozone, commodities, net neutrality coming up
Hmm… the ones you mention are very good. Commodities and net neutrality are issues that people care about and potentially have some control over, whereas the Eurozone question is certainly very interesting and instructive but not something that Australians can change.
Maybe here’s another one: if the Aus housing market crashes, people might notice that Prosper has been predicting such an event and they might even listen to some solutions you prescribe.
LVT is the obvious one to us, but you might also want to address the short-term problem that negative equity will cause- ie. normal people are trapped in houses which are worth less than the mortgages and they either won’t or can’t escape because or the nature of recourse loans (which means the bank can go after their personal incomes if the house is foreclosed and sold at a loss). One solution might be to call on the government to abolish recourse loan provisions; another might be to follow the advice of the US’s Dean Baker, with what I think is the best short-term solution proposed for their housing crash: Right to Rent legislation. “Under this proposal, foreclosed homeowners would be allowed to remain in their house as renters paying the market rent, for a substantial period of time (e.g. five years) following a foreclosure.”
http://rwer.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/right-to-rent-will-the-obama-administration-finally-fix-housing/
I think this would allow the Aus housing market to bounce back faster by writing off unpayable debts.