TOTAL RESOURCE RENTS OF AUSTRALIA

EMS, privatisation and democracy
Joseph Stiglitz, while Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Bill Clinton, advocated the leasing of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
He is one of a number of economists who recognise campaign contributions undermine freedom of speech:
The public owns the airwaves that the TV stations use. Rather than giving these away to
the TV stations without restriction – a blatant form of corporate welfare – we should sell
access to them; and we could sell it with the condition that a certain amount of airtime be
made available for campaign advertising. With free advertising politicians would need less
money, and we could constrain those accepting the free advertising in the amount and
nature of campaign contributions they accepted. But the TV stations that make such money
from campaign advertisers – and from their free gifts of the spectrum – vehemently and
successfully opposed the reform. 75
New Zealand goes part way, using public finance to provide free advertising to parties:
The Electoral Commission allocates time and money to be spent on television and radio
advertisements, and on campaign opening and closing speeches. For example in 2008
$3.2 million and 102 minutes of television time was allocated to 14 parties – with 60% of the
money going to Labour and National. Political parties are not permitted to use their own
money to buy additional broadcast advertising. 76
Privatising the electromagnetic spectrum undermines democracy – the everyday person has little capacity to compete with
corporations and their extensive campaign contributions. This makes the extensive public broadcasting network in Australia all
the more important to maintain and improve.
“Privatising the electromagnetic spectrum undermines democracy – the everyday person
has little capacity to compete with corporations and their extensive campaign contributions.”
The corporate commons
Business will greatly benefit from reduced compliance costs inherent in removing most of Australia’s 126 taxes. For these
benefits to be realised in a stable society, corporations must contribute for the legal privilege of personhood, limited liability and
the maintenance of the legal system. Without well functioning corporate infrastructures, confidence in the fulfilment of private
contracts may falter.
Additionally, the stock exchange is a powerful vehicle for immense wealth creation. This trading infrastructure was publicly
developed over centuries. Peter Barnes, author of Capitalism 3, writes:
For those of you who haven’t been involved in a public stock offering, investment bankers
are like fancy doormen to a free palace. While the public charges almost nothing to use the
capital markets, investment bankers exact hefty fees. 77
Calculations
The market capitalisation of the Australia Stock Exchange was $1.382 trillion (Jan 31, 2013). A 2% corporate commons fee would
deliver $27.64 billion to public coffers. This equates to 40% of current company taxation levels, ensuring Australia is investment
friendly for those engaged in productive, entrepreneurial activities. 78 Admittedly, most companies will pay some form of land tax,
and minor charges like domain name registration fees. However, the overall tax burden will be significantly lower.
75 The Price of Inequality, Joseph Stiglitz, 2012, p.136
76 http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/elections-and-campaigns/5
77 http://capitalism3.com
78 op cit, www.budget.gov.au/
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