Happy St Homobonus's Day

Today, 13 November, is the feast day of St Homobonus, the patron saint of small business, so let's raise our glasses to all those small business owners who are tenants.*

The Brown Couch is full of admiration for those enterprising souls who have used their creditworthiness not to buy an over-priced house, but instead to fund the development of a big idea into a business that actually produces something new and valuable.

Faced of the certainty that rent must be paid, and the widespread opinion that the way to wealth is to buy and sell houses, taking on the uncertain prospects of a small business takes courage, and we take our hats off to the tenants who are doing it.

And so we make a St Homobonus's Day wish: for trade-exposed tenant-entrepreneurs, here's hoping that the high cost of dealing in the Australian currency goes down; and for everyone, here's hoping that land values are made to shoulder more of the tax burden that currently falls on enterprise and labour.

* And we've only just recovered from celebrating St Hubertus's Day.