M
morganist
or a version of the EIC (earned income credit)....sorry, but as indicated by me and others earlier, this is not new territory. all very basic macro theory that has been debated for many years.
I disagree there are some points in the article that are new. Such as the limit being based on a percentage of the tenants earnings rather than a flat rate, which tends to be unfair to either one party, it is either too high for the tenant or too low for the landlord.
By making rent a percentage rate of earnings it makes it stay in line with living standards and the economy as a whole. In terms of my work in general not being new or original my work on pension saving and using it as a way of controlling inflation was.
This is the area where I led a lot of new economic thinking and also put in massive reforms in the UK Pension Tax Manual, previously the Registered Pension Scheme Manual. Not only are the techniques I used original but I am the person who puts them forward to the government.
They are then often, but not always, used and subsequently implemented as policy and have led to a greater ability to cut the deficit and control consumption levels. You have to understand there is the idea itself and the implementation of the policy.
The concept of altering who pays a certain level of tax or who receives more of the workers income the landlord or the tenant, to alter consumption based on propensities to consume, yes this has been around for a while.
But the method of interacting with it and the wider macroeconomic consequences seem to have been neglected. By making it a percentage of pay it means it falls within earning rates and improves the living standard.
Another example would be using interest rates to control inflation. If interest rates rise it could lead to many businesses failing and homeowners defaulting. Using another mechanism to control consumption could cut inflation without those consequences.
The suggestion of the rent control mechanism might be a appropriate. Although at the moment it could go against the tenant as the rate would rise to lower consumption. However using pension saving, an increase in it, to reduce consumption would work.
More saving means less consumption, so a mechanism to encourage pension saving would reduce inflation without the consequences of an interest rate rise on businesses and homeowners a like. The wider picture has to be looked at when using these tools.
New tools can avoid these issues. If there is anyone else who has scoured the pension tax regime to devise a new way of controlling consumption/saving in an effort to control inflation then please tell me who they are. As far as I am aware I started it, it was called the CPR.