There's an easy solution to the developer land-banking problem: levy a tax on the unimproved value of land. Most taxes have some sort of efficiency cost (e.g.

There's an easy solution to the developer land-banking problem: levy a tax on the unimproved value of land. Most taxes have some sort of efficiency cost (e.g. income tax means people work less hours than they otherwise would have). Recent modelling by the Australian Treasury suggests that a LVT (set at a sensible rate) actually has a negative efficiency cost: that is, it increases economic efficiency, resulting in higher levels of economic output. Modelling: http://i.imgur.com/NxWo7DP.png http://i.imgur.com/NxWo7DP.png EDIT: and just for some general background - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism