4 ms·

The main issue with land value taxes is it's easy to convince people that they're unjust. Think about the Pixar movie Up, where the old man doesn't want to sell

The main issue with land value taxes is it's easy to convince people that they're unjust. Think about the Pixar movie Up, where the old man doesn't want to sell his house. With land-value tax systems someone with enough money can drive up land values and instantly force people to move or sell, since, if the system is done right, the land is basically as valuable as the most productive economic use that someone wants to be doing on it would make it. This is, unfortunately, why land value tax systems do make sense to many: the most valuable land is taxed in a way that forces it to be turned over to a party that will develop it accordingly, but Americans (I think) already regard property taxes as somewhat unjust (witness how things are in CA), and I don't think a system that would make the perceived problem (that you ought to be able to buy a home once and live your life there regardless of surrounding economic growth) potentially worse is likely to win a marketing campaign. If anything, it will be claimed to be a worse version of eminent domain.

rcpt 6y ago
otoh never feeling pressure to move despite economic growth hugely favors long time landowning families (read: white people) and locks out newcomers from needed economic opportunities. Prop 13 disparately impacts minorities, arguably to the point where it's illegal under the fair housing act [1], and imo the racism angle could win out in a marketing campaign in today's climate. [1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3012949 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3012949
- kingsuper20 6y ago
  "Prop 13 disparately impacts minorities" Well, that's sort of a stretch. I expect to the extent that's true, it's because the state was a lot whiter in 1978, although scarcely any people have owned a house for 42 years. Makes for a good headline though. Just imagine the papers you could write showing racial disparities for any metric involving age as I would think that older trends whiter in California.
  - rcpt 6y ago
    It's not a stretch. If you don't want to read the paper here's evidence in tweet form https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1327821019931787264?s=21 https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1327821019931787264?s=... And disparate impact rulings don't matter the intent of the law -- that's what the 14th amendment is for -- even though the law was pitched as a way to assist the old if it's hitting minorities harder the fair housing act still applies.
bluecalm 6y ago
I get there is a sentiment like that. It's a frustrating one. There if the other side of someone just sitting on a land waiting for others to develop it around and then sell for now inflated price getting rich in a parasitic way. I mean some people will always think some taxes are unjust. I think convincing the population that land value tax is better than property tax or an income tax or a corporate profit tax should just be too difficult.

rcpt 6y ago

otoh never feeling pressure to move despite economic growth hugely favors long time landowning families (read: white people) and locks out newcomers from needed economic opportunities. Prop 13 disparately impacts minorities, arguably to the point where it's illegal under the fair housing act [1], and imo the racism angle could win out in a marketing campaign in today's climate. [1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3012949 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3012949

kingsuper20 6y ago
"Prop 13 disparately impacts minorities" Well, that's sort of a stretch. I expect to the extent that's true, it's because the state was a lot whiter in 1978, although scarcely any people have owned a house for 42 years. Makes for a good headline though. Just imagine the papers you could write showing racial disparities for any metric involving age as I would think that older trends whiter in California.
- rcpt 6y ago
  It's not a stretch. If you don't want to read the paper here's evidence in tweet form https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1327821019931787264?s=21 https://twitter.com/alfred_twu/status/1327821019931787264?s=... And disparate impact rulings don't matter the intent of the law -- that's what the 14th amendment is for -- even though the law was pitched as a way to assist the old if it's hitting minorities harder the fair housing act still applies.

bluecalm 6y ago

I get there is a sentiment like that. It's a frustrating one. There if the other side of someone just sitting on a land waiting for others to develop it around and then sell for now inflated price getting rich in a parasitic way. I mean some people will always think some taxes are unjust. I think convincing the population that land value tax is better than property tax or an income tax or a corporate profit tax should just be too difficult.