Speculation is a legitimate market activity. People make predictions about what will be valuable in the future and marshall those resources toward the most valu

Speculation is a legitimate market activity. People make predictions about what will be valuable in the future and marshall those resources toward the most valuable future use. If speculators are wrong, they lose money. There's no free lunch here like you make it sound. >The correct solution to this is a land value tax, which if implemented correctly, should drive down the price of land down to zero We have prices to help decide what is the most valuable use of a resource. Trying to implement a bunch of policy to cancel out price signals will lead to all kinds of dysfunctional situations. Fixed percentage property tax based on market data and legitimate appraisals is the right kind of tax on land (or as correct as it gets; the ideal is that people pay for what public services they use and no more). >force Jack Ma's family to either commit to actually investing in UK's economy or park their wealth elsewhere. They are investing in the UK economy by owning land there. A mansion requires maintenance and property tax payments. The UK is not entitled to tell people how they must spend the fruits of their labor. If you'd rather the mansion not go to a foreign rich person, you could ban foreign purchases of mansions. But this would no doubt hurt the people who build and maintain them. Furthermore, Jack Ma probably has limits placed on him by his country. He may only be free to buy a mansion. He will no doubt use it... Leaving a country takes time. If you want to be mad about land prices, be mad at the infinite deficits and credit bubbles being inflated in the West.