3 ms·

Yeah, it's hard to disaggregate causality here and this picture might change over time. Given the state of most western metropolises, though, it's worth conside

Yeah, it's hard to disaggregate causality here and this picture might change over time. Given the state of most western metropolises, though, it's worth considering whether we want to be highly paid sharecroppers forever.

eru 7y ago
Well, in economic analysis, we can always separate the roles of landowner and sharecropper. If we have to have any government, then we need to finance that government. Given the government the role of landowner and renting out the land to the highest bidder is the least bad way we know to do that financing. (That's what Georgism is all about.) If you buy land (and there's not a huge property tax or land value tax), than you are sharecropper and landowner in personal union. But the price you paid for the land was just the capitalised present value of those future land rents. So you don't even get much out of owning the land. In equilibrium, you could have invested in other assets just as well. In any case, I like living in Singapore. And I especially like that I don't have to buy an owner-occupied home to avoid capital gains taxes, like in most other countries.
- ethanbond 7y ago
  Absolutely. To clarify my above statement (can't edit), the "we" in my comment "it's worth considering whether we want to be highly paid sharecroppers forever," is referring to we Americans/westerners/who do not live in a Georgist-like state.
  - eru 7y ago
    https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Annual-Reports/Corporate-Information-and-Highlights/Our-Revenue-Collection/ https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Annual-Reports/Corporate-In... says that Singapore isn't that Georgist. At least on the face of it, when measured by where the tax take comes from. Living here, I think we could levy a land value tax, and decrease eg person income taxes or VAT. But I can't complain too much in practice.

3 ms·

Yeah, it's hard to disaggregate causality here and this picture might change over time. Given the state of most western metropolises, though, it's worth conside

by ethanbond 7y ago

eru 7y ago
Well, in economic analysis, we can always separate the roles of landowner and sharecropper. If we have to have any government, then we need to finance that government. Given the government the role of landowner and renting out the land to the highest bidder is the least bad way we know to do that financing. (That's what Georgism is all about.) If you buy land (and there's not a huge property tax or land value tax), than you are sharecropper and landowner in personal union. But the price you paid for the land was just the capitalised present value of those future land rents. So you don't even get much out of owning the land. In equilibrium, you could have invested in other assets just as well. In any case, I like living in Singapore. And I especially like that I don't have to buy an owner-occupied home to avoid capital gains taxes, like in most other countries.
- ethanbond 7y ago
  Absolutely. To clarify my above statement (can't edit), the "we" in my comment "it's worth considering whether we want to be highly paid sharecroppers forever," is referring to we Americans/westerners/who do not live in a Georgist-like state.
  - eru 7y ago
    https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Annual-Reports/Corporate-Information-and-Highlights/Our-Revenue-Collection/ https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/Annual-Reports/Corporate-In... says that Singapore isn't that Georgist. At least on the face of it, when measured by where the tax take comes from. Living here, I think we could levy a land value tax, and decrease eg person income taxes or VAT. But I can't complain too much in practice.