4 ms·
"In 1879, Henry George...published Progress and Poverty, a scathing polemic that blamed all economic ills on the private ownership of land.[he] found it pervers
by aberman 17y ago
"In 1879, Henry George...published Progress and Poverty, a scathing polemic that blamed all economic ills on the private ownership of land.[he] found it perverse that we tax productive activities like work and innovative investment while letting landowners grow rich simply because they scooped up property at the right time. "
People don't really get rich simply by owning land -- well, not since the Industrial Revolution in early 1800s. One tax on land would have made sense then, but it would not make sense now. People now make money on land by buying and selling it -- as an investment. By taxing land now, you would be doing what you are trying to prevent, namely, taxing productive behavior.
I can't think of a modern day equivalent to land 200 years ago. The closest I can get is inheritance -- tax people for winning the lucky sperm club.
- ivankirigin 17y agoTaxing land (and not the buildings on top of it) would incentivize people to improve the buildings to add value. Currently, other taxes such as capital gains disincentivizes improvements to the property. The biggest benefit to such a simple tax system is the simplicity itself. It isn't just that a complex tax code makes for dead weight loss in paying taxes and the loopholes to evade them. The process of creating loopholes is extremely corrupting. If you want a heathly democracy, keep things simple to disincentivize corruption. The US is not a healthy democracy, largely due to the incredible size of government and extreme corruption of our tax code. Other problems such as unfunded liabilities or overly influencial corporations stem from this core issue.