oil for food in Iraq

In today's news, the UN is criticized for how it handles the oil-for-food program in Iraq. It is easy to see this as a cynical attempt to distract attention from the much greater Iraq scandal in Washington, but it is refreshing to see how Annan accepts blame, does not play it down, and plans real changes. However, for the most part it worked well.

But my point is not about how well it worked, but to point out that the principle in action was land rent. Saddam Hussein did not create that oil, its value was created by the wider community, and thus its wealth belonged to the wider community. The oil-for-food plan, suitably reformed to avoid corruption, should be adopted everywhere and applied to all non-earned wealth.