We can have one without the other
Local governments play a central role in the everyday lives of Americans. They provide a broad range of public services—from K–12 education and fire protection to emergency medical response, utilities, water conservation, policing, and even mosquito abatement (yes, there really is a South Cook County… Read More »Overlapping Jurisdictions and the Provision of Local Public Goods in U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Denver is navigating a critical moment in housing and tax policy. Like many cities, the post-COVID period has seen widespread commercial & retail vacancies, rapidly-rising property values, and mounting pressure to build more housing. Because land value tax (LVT) can help solve all of these… Read More »Building Momentum for Land Value Tax in Colorado: An update from Denver
(This article was coauthored with Greg Miller, Executive Director of the Center for Land Economics.) While an increasing body of scholarship examines land value taxation (LVT) and Georgist economic principles, this field remains relatively underexplored relative to its theoretical significance. To support students and researchers… Read More »Advancing Land Value Taxation: Research Priorities for 2025 and Beyond
There is never a dull moment in South Korean politics. Six months ago, the conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol accused members of the National Assembly of being “despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces,” declared martial law, and deployed the military to block representatives’ access to the Assembly… Read More »Did South Korea just elect a Georgist President?
Co-published with Stephen Hoskins Case studies from South Bend and Princeton examine the impact of shifting taxes from buildings to land. The shift would drive development, promote equity, and capture community value. In the past month, the Center for Land Economics (CLE) and Progress and… Read More »New Reports: Land Value Taxes in College Towns
How NYC’s tax mess overtaxes tenants & towers, and what to do about it. I’m sure that many of you, like me, spend much of your time thinking about what an ideal tax system would look like. Perhaps you fantasize about abolishing the income tax,… Read More »Footing the Bill: The Big Apple’s Property Tax Leviathan
Board Member at the Progress & Poverty Institute Arlington Heights faces a critical decision regarding the Chicago Bears’ proposed development to build a new stadium to build a new stadium. While some argue for tax breaks and incentives to lure the team to build in… Read More »No Tax Breaks for the Bears: A Smarter Approach for Arlington Heights
Introduction On average, almost 40 percent of properties in Pennsylvania’s cities are exempt from local real estate taxes, representing an estimated loss of over $600 million in potential property tax revenue based on market value, according to new research by the Pennsylvania Economy League,… Read More » Money Down the Drain? The Impact of Tax-Exempt Property on Municipalities in Pennsylvania
“What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.” – Henry George, Protection or Free Trade The perspective of Georgist is often summed up as simply being the advocacy of… Read More »Why do Georgists oppose tariffs?
Taxes influence behavior. When you tax cigarettes and alcohol, people are less likely to buy them. When you tax property and buildings, people are less likely to invest in improving current properties and developing new ones. This leads to run-down buildings, empty lots and underutilized… Read More »How Land Value Taxes Could Promote Fairer Taxes
