Thanks for mentioning property tax, one issue that is sadly overlooked in practically every discussion. In Germany there's a small initiative of cities and citi

Thanks for mentioning property tax, one issue that is sadly overlooked in practically every discussion. In Germany there's a small initiative of cities and citizens that aim to restructure property taxes to actually incentive productive use of land: http://www.grundsteuerreform.net/ http://www.grundsteuerreform.net/ (unfortunately only in German) Basically it aims to remove all taxes on buildings and _only_ tax the property it's on, at a rate that is propertional to the value that society (the people living in the city around the property) and the city itself (through infrastructure) provide to the property. The tax would then strongly encourage productive use of the land instead of speculating with it.