"This Is Why You Can’t Afford To Buy A House" >>> >>> Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing

This week Evan Davis and The Bottom Line on Radio 4 looked at the politics and economics (same thing...) of land:
BBC Radio 4 - The Bottom Line, Land - the mother of all monopolies

Their main guest was Josh Ryan-Collins of the New Economics Foundation:
Britain's housing crisis: how did we get here? | New Economics Foundation

He and his colleagues at the NEF have written a book on the subject:
Podcast: to rebalance Britain's economy, we must rethink land and housing economics - New thinking for the British economy

‘This excellent book on the economic role of land is both thorough and comprehensive. I am convinced that it will quickly become an important reference for the general public and for economists, and hopefully also for policymakers.’
Michael Kumhof, senior research advisor, Bank of England

‘Land policy is the missing issue in any discussion on planning, development and the property market. This book is therefore long overdue. It returns land to its central role in both economic theory and in built environment discourses.’
Duncan Bowie, author of Radical Solutions to the Housing Supply Crisis

Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing: Amazon.co.uk: Josh Ryan-Collins, Toby Lloyd, Laurie Macfarlane, John Muellbauer: 9781786991188: Books
Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing - ZED books


Neglected, obfuscated but never quite completely forgotten, the story of Land’s marginalization from mainstream economic theory is little known. But it has important implications. Putting it back in to economics, we argue in a new book, ‘Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing’, could help us better understand many of today’s most pressing social and economic problems, including excessive property prices, rising wealth inequality and stagnant productivity. Land was initially a key part of classical economic theory, so why did it get pushed aside?

Economist Josh Ryan-Collins: How Land Disappeared from Economic Theory - Evonomics


Property values have outpaced growth and incomes in many major economies in the past three decades, particularly the UK. At its root, the problem is land. That is the argument that the authors of this book seek to advance; it would sell many more copies if it were titled This Is Why You Can’t Afford To Buy A House. As it is, Rethinking The Economics Of Land And Housing is not an appealing title but this is a very appealing book.

Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing — theft and freedom - Financial Times

“There is a strong case for fundamental changes in the way land is taxed, controlled and used. The speculative profits arising from owning desirable land need to be either taxed or captured by local or national governments — or perhaps communities — by owning the land themselves.
In many East Asian countries, such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, the majority of land is controlled by state corporations — public ‘land banks’. In the US and Canada, there are similar schemes at state or local government level.
These may seem like radical structural interventions for the UK. But the alternative is worsening inequality, rising prices and rents and, eventually, economic and financial collapse as the bubble bursts yet again.”

Why you can’t afford a home in the UK – Medium
NEF piece on housing and land | Three Acres And A Cow

See also:
Futures Forum: A solution to our housing problems >>> deter property and land speculation
Futures Forum: A solution to our housing problems: tax the land to get greater density housing
Futures Forum: A solution to our housing problems >>> a land value tax
Futures Forum: ‘Homes for local people' > The mysterious appearance of Latin graffiti on a new housing development is a wake-up call that all is not right in Cambridge
.
.
.