My point really is that purchasers of prime NYC property make a decision to purchase knowing the contribution to the infrastructure of NYC which will be required from the property and whereas anybody can buy in the US it does not confer residency rights or any tax exemptions on exit. Therefore, in the Land of the Free, as opposed to Kensington property tax is socially progressive. In RBK&C a hardworking couple in a £320k house pay the same Council Tax as Lakshmi Mittal (or his offshore shell) in his £60 M house, hugely socially regressive? Mittal or indeed Moi on the basis of their connection to another country under a law originally designed to exempt Plantation and Slave owners when Income Tax was introduced in 1798 can also sell their property and exit tax free. A ludicrous situation adding insult to the injury to the common good?
So Nick, if you owned a £5m property in Manhattan as opposed to Kensington you would pay £66,000 Property Tax per annum on it, the tax reflecting the value of the property which is an objective measure of its economic footprint in a World City, for the wealthy want to live in the centre of a world city for the same reasons they want to live in London. If you sold that property in New York you would pay Federal Income Tax on the gain, here if you are a Non-Dom you pay zero, zilch, diddly-squat. You collect a tax free Capital Gain to wash offshore, probably in one of the 23 British controlled tax havens so beloved of those too patriotic to pay Great British taxes such as David Cameron's Dear Old Dad and DC's Bestie Jonathan Harmsworth owner of the Daily Heil and a 3rd generation Tax Dodger. That is why Central London property has become a reserve currency for the Dodgy Geezers of the world and the life and character of whole swathes of Central London, including Kensington, is being destroyed and productive inhabitants who actually contribute to the city rather than treating it as a "Smash and Grab" raid are being squeezed out. Have New York's HIGH Property Taxes had the effect your article suggests?
We don't expect Tories like you to stand up for Real People doing productive work as they are addicted to #somethingfornothing
Couldn't agree more - They develop a dangerous combination of a sense of entitlement and a sense that they don't need to be accountable. More posts soon as this area worries me!
Hels - Sorry for the delay in commenting, I didn't have your comment referred. I think it's an interesting question because at the beginning of the C20 Glasgow & Barcelona were comparable cities in terms of size wealth and class divide but since then their trajectory has divided. Glasgow has largely lost its meaning as a city as its industrial base has been obliterated leaving its artistic and educational communities stranded but Barcelona has found its metier as a World City and capital of resurgent Catalonia.
Both Gaudi & Mackintosh were part of and fed off a larger artistic community but other than their originality there seems to be little reciprocal influences. You could argue that neither achieved their potential, Mackintosh by being unsuccesful, alienated and adopting painting in later life and Gaudi by burying himself in a single project.
Sorry Donna - This is a review of a Lunch in Paris - I don't want my Blog used for irrelevant comment and I don't believe in free speech for Fascists and racists.
Unfortunately the nearest I got was a phone call. Russell Murphy & Co kept me away from him. I feel Da and John Mortomer's a journey around my Father are the two definitive "Dad memoirs."
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Subject: Póló commented on Jack Keyes T/A Hugh Leonard
A fair point Jim - I actually use salt free organic stock cubes myself but OXO is the brand people recognise over here.
I suppose being a Welsh Choir they had a slate in the Central Bar! In truth the Carmelites are not a fun outfit but I used to enjoy my annual Messiah (sic) at Whitefriar Street.
Excellent and interesting Bebo page!
Beir Bua,
Daithai C
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Subject: Ceithearna Coille commented on The Inauguration of Barack Obama
There have been a few changes since then! There is also a curvy one on Annie Mole's (sic) wonderful London Underground Blog (on my Blogroll) and even an Underground style map of the Milky way!
http://london-underground.blogspot.com/
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