Mason Gaffney is an American economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

 and a major critic of Neoclassical economics

Neoclassical economics

Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to economics focusing on the determination of prices, outputs, and income distributions in markets through supply and demand, often mediated through a hypothesized maximization of utility by income-constrained individuals and of profits...

 from a Georgist

Georgism

Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...

 point of view. He earned his B.A. in 1948 from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Gaffney first read Henry George

Henry George

Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...

's masterwork Progress and Poverty

Progress and Poverty

Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy was written by Henry George in 1879...

as a high school junior. After serving in the southwest Pacific during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, this interest led him in 1955 to get a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

. There he addressed his teachers' skepticism about Georgism with a dissertation entitled "Land Speculation as an Obstacle to Ideal Allocation of Land." Gaffney has been Professor of Economics at the University of California, Riverside

University of California, Riverside

The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...

 since 1976.

Career

Gaffney has been a Professor of Economics at several universities; a journalist with TIME, Inc.

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

; a researcher with Resources for the Future

Resources for the Future

Resources for the Future is a nonprofit organization that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues, primarily via economics and other social sciences. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., RFF performs research around the world...

; the head of the British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 Institute for Economic Policy Analysis, which he founded; an economic consultant to several businesses and government agencies; and a frequent speaker on economic topics, domestic and foreign, and in political campaigns. He has been a Director of R.S.F. since 1988.

Publications

Gaffney has published many books and articles on public finance, land use, economics, taxation, and public policy. These include:

• Gaffney, M. Mason. Concepts of financial maturity of timber and other assets. (Raleigh: North Carolina State College, 1957).

• LAND: A Special Issue (of House and Home Magazine)

• Gaffney, Mason. Extractive Resources and Taxation: Proceedings (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967) (some pages available on Dr. Gaffney's personal site)

• Gaffney, Mason; Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources.; Alaska Legislature Interim Committee on Oil and Gas Taxation and Leasing Policy. Oil and gas leasing policy: alternatives for Alaska in 1977: a report. (1977)

• Gaffney, M. (1997). What price water marketing?: California's new frontier. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 56, 475-520.

• Gaffney, M., Harrison, F.
  Fred Harrison (author)
  Fred Harrison is a British author, economic commentator and corporate policy advisor, notable for his stances on land reform and belief that an over reliance on land, property and mortgage weakens economic structures and makes companies vulnerable to economic collapse...
  
  , & Feder, K. The Corruption of Economics. (London: Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd., 1994) ISBN 0856831603 (hardback), ISBN 0856832448 (paperback). In this book, Gaffney shows how Neoclassical economics
  Neoclassical economics
  Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to economics focusing on the determination of prices, outputs, and income distributions in markets through supply and demand, often mediated through a hypothesized maximization of utility by income-constrained individuals and of profits...
  
  was designed and promoted by landowners and their hired economists to divert attention from George's extremely popular insight that since land and resources are provided by nature, and their value is given by society, they - rather than labor or capital - should provide the tax base to fund government and its expenditures.

External links

• Dr. Gaffney's personal site. Contains a biography, bibliography and many essays, articles and chapters for free download.
• The Progress Report has an interview with Dr. Gaffney and more articles.
• Mason Gaffney biography at the School of Cooperative Individualism