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Real estate speculation is the bane of modern society. A land value tax is sorely needed.
by markdown 4y ago
Real estate speculation is the bane of modern society. A land value tax is sorely needed.
- ajsnigrutin 4y agoOr some kind of regulation limiting how much you can actually own. If we can regulate eg. radio spectrum (which is a limited resource too), why not land too?
- markdown 4y agoThis is very hard to do in practice. Bezos could spin up a thousand new companies within days and use them to buy property. Plus we shouldn't restrict ownership when that ownership is put to productive use. Buy up thousands of acres for for a ranch or to build factories is fine. Buying up land just to sit on it is bad for society, and that's a problem that LVT addresses.
- ajsnigrutin 4y agoWell yeah, but you actually need cattle and have them graze there, or build factories, employ people and produce stuff there, so if bezos buys a plot of buildable land, he would get a 5 years (or whatever) time limit, to actually build and produce something there, or be forced to sell. If someone just buys land, and hodls it, without actually producing anything there, a 100% tax rate would solve a lot of problems.
- tmnvix 4y agoThe financial industry has hijacked and transformed capitalism. Less industrious and more rent-seeking. Adam Smith et al would be turning in their graves.