Right. As Henry George pointed out over a century ago [0], the increase in property values in urban areas as their populations grow is mostly caused not by inv

Right. As Henry George pointed out over a century ago [0], the increase in property values in urban areas as their populations grow is mostly caused not by investments made by the property owners, but simply by the network effects of having more people living in the area. So the ability of property owners, under the commonly used taxation schemes, to benefit from those network effects presents a golden opportunity for rent-seeking. Looking for example at Silicon Valley, it's easy to see that rental property owners are sucking large amounts of wealth out of the region. It's not just rental property, though. Anyone who bought a house prior to the recent run-up in prices, and then sold it for a large gain, is effectively also removing wealth from the area, in the form of the mortgage payments the new owner has to pay. George argues that wealth that is collectively created should be collectively enjoyed, and that the best way to make that happen is through a Land Value Tax (LVT) -- that taxes only the unimproved value of land, not that of any structures that may be built on it. [0] http://www.henrygeorge.org/pcontents.htm http://www.henrygeorge.org/pcontents.htm