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Does Georgism work? Five years later

514 points · 522 comments · silveraxe93

  1. m101 · · focus · HN ↗
    LVT and things like market value based taxes are all far more complicated than is what already works, and what Singapore does (and a couple other countries like China): all land owned by the state, sold to private individuals with [99] year leases.

    So the revenue comes through in resales once leases end.

    Super simple: no valuation (only market sales); no annual expenses to consider (all upfront); development issues are simply a matter for leases to expire; speculation is capped given the capped lease length (although it can still get to stupid valuations).

    Implementation is also extremely simple if you’re already onboard with taxation as expropriation: the state just legislates that all property is now a 99 year lease and they own it at that point (alternatively they compensate you 2-5% of market value, and retain existing annual taxes, or cut existing annual taxes to compensate, or they just do it without compensation!)

    1. yellowapple · · focus · HN ↗
      > all land owned by the state, sold to private individuals with [99] year leases.

      All land¹ is already owned by the state and leased to the “owners”; the only differences are in how much the state charges those “owners” for rent.

      In light of this, the difference between a 100% LVT rate v. the state issuing land leases is just semantics.

      ----

      ¹ within any state's territory, of course.

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