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# The Progress and Poverty Institute

We can have one without the other

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Part 1: Reclaiming the Economy Through Structural Redesign](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/part-1-reclaiming-the-economy-through-structural-redesign/) - As the cost of living is skyrocketing, policy proposals tied to fairness and equality are making a comeback. Think about, for example, Mamdani-style socialism, a type of “consumer socialism” that attacks consumer prices through government supplied services, such as universal childcare and city-run grocery stores. But these economic policies are not without their own challenges.
- [Part 2: What Does Economic Democracy Actually Look Like?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/part-2-what-does-economic-democracy-actually-look-like/) - In Part 1 of this blog, we looked at Olivier De Schutter's case that capitalism doesn't fail to serve the poor by accident. De Schutter is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. He says capitalism is structurally built to follow the purchasing power of the wealthy. Neither elections nor consumer
- [The Economic Injustice of Puerto Rico’s Dry Taps](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-economic-injustice-of-puerto-ricos-dry-taps/) - In Puerto Rico, recurring dry taps stem from decades of decaying infrastructure, power grid failures, and a policy model that treats public goods as a market commodity. For low-income and elderly residents who cannot afford private cisterns or endless bottled water, this crisis transforms everyday survival into a stark reality of economic injustice. In this radio interview transcript with PPI’s Senior Research Associate, David Southgate explains how the burden falls hardest on those least equipped to bear it.
- [Blackout Rage to Blueprint for Action](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/blackout-rage-to-blueprint-for-action/) - After Hurricane Maria, one Puerto Rico mayor built his own power authority out of retired linemen and sheer defiance. Nearly a decade later, a barrio in Ponce is trying something more durable: mapping all 2,000 of its broken streetlights by hand to force $20 million in federal funding into action. This is how La Playa de Ponce is turning blackout rage into a blueprint the government can't ignore.
- [Dr. Chester Harvey](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/dr-chester-harvey/) - Modeling Land Values in Baltimore Dr. Chester Harvey Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Modeling Land Values in Baltimore](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/modeling-land-values-in-baltimore/) - Implementing a land value tax (LVT) would require accurate and efficient assessments of land value across all properties in a city. Colleagues from the National Center for Smart Growth, Center for Open Geographical Science, and I investigated the potential to estimate land value using a statistical method called a hedonic price model and detailed property
- [Meet the 2026-27 PPI Scholars](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/meet-the-2026-27-ppi-scholars/) - The Progress and Poverty Institute is proud to partner with Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy to provide financial support to graduate students whose future careers will position them to enhance economic equity at the national and international levels. The 2026-27 cohort includes seven such individuals, each receiving $5,000 toward
- [Land value return is needed, pragmatic, achievable — and winning](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-return-is-needed-pragmatic-achievable-and-winning/) - Video and transcript from our latest LVT Landscape LIVE On June 3rd, 2026, the Center for Land Economics and the Progress and Poverty Institute teamed up again for the latest in our “LVT Landscape LIVE” series, where we update the community on what’s happening nationwide in land value tax (LVT) policy. This time we were
- [Before the Water Rises: Protecting Our Neighbors](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/before-the-water-rises-protecting-our-neighbors/) - If you've watched documentaries about Hurricane Katrina's human toll in New Orleans, you were likely moved to tears, as I was, when caregivers left wheelchair bound people to succumb to rising flood waters. In Playa de Ponce, we lived our own version of this horror during Hurricane Fiona in 2022. A neighbor passed away in
- [2025-2026 Progress and Poverty Institute Interns](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/2025-2026-progress-and-poverty-institute-interns/) - As the academic year wraps up, the Progress and Poverty Institute is grateful to recognize the five student interns who worked with us in 2025–2026. Their research, analysis, and policy chops have been essential to our work! Emily Evers is a dual master's candidate in Public Policy and City & Regional Planning at Rutgers University.
- [PPI in Chicago: Research, Coalition-Building, and Community](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/ppi-in-chicago-research-coalition-building-and-community/) - Sometimes the calendar lines up just right. For the Progress & Poverty Institute team, the last week of April 2026 was one of those moments. We traveled to Chicago for the Urban Affairs Association’s annual conference, and while we were there, our distributed team got to do something rare: work side-by-side for an extended stretch,
- [I Went to Medellín for the Party and Found Henry George](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/i-went-to-medellin-for-the-party-and-found-henry-george/) - The night I got my first lesson in Colombian property law, I was seated at an Italian restaurant on the edge of Provenza — Medellín's famously raucous party district. On the street outside, Provenza was doing what Provenza does — karaoke, clinking glasses, the low roar of a neighborhood fully alive. Among our dinner companions
- [An Unsung Georgist Hero of the First Red Scare](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/an-unsung-georgist-hero-of-the-first-red-scare/) - Most Americans associate the Red Scare with historical events like the Hollywood Blacklist, House Unamerican Activities Committee, and the televised McCarthy hearings. What they may not know is that this was actually the second instance in which fear of radicals led to massive Federal law enforcement investigation and action. Though shorter than its later counterpart,
- [Oil Wars and Industrial Decay: The Urgent Case for Decontaminating Puerto Rico’s PR-127](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/oil-wars-and-industrial-decay-the-urgent-case-for-decontaminating-puerto-ricos-pr-127/) - The ghost of Puerto Rico’s industrial past has re-emerged, amid recent U.S. military actions against Iran that have sent shockwaves through global energy markets, driving oil and gas prices to new heights,. The current crisis recalls the 1973 Arab–Israeli War and OPEC’s oil embargo, highlighting the vulnerability of economies based on extracting local resources for
- [The Deadly Cost of Darkness: Taking Control of La Playa’s Energy Future](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-deadly-cost-of-darkness-taking-control-of-la-playas-energy-future/) - After Hurricane María, Puerto Rico’s prolonged power outages revealed a stark reality: when electricity fails, people die. In this blog, David Southgate examines the public health consequences of the island’s fragile electric grid and the disproportionate burden it places on vulnerable communities like Playa de Ponce. He describes his work via the community organization Un Nuevo Amanecer and national energy researchers to developed a Strategic Energy Plan to strengthen local resilience through solar lighting, community microgrids, and energy education. The story highlights how a community facing chronic blackouts is turning toward locally driven solutions to improve safety, reliability, and energy justice.
- [Squandered Opportunity: The Social Cost of Underutilized Land](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/squandered-opportunity-the-social-cost-of-underutilized-land/) - In our previous article describing speculation on vacant urban land, we pointed out that the attention paid to vacant housing often overlooks another type of pernicious vacancy: housing units that aren’t even built in the first place. Sometimes this looks like plots of land lying vacant for decades, even in the face of exorbitant rents, earning juicy speculative profits for the owner as their land rises in value. But speculative profiteering doesn’t only occur on wholly vacant land. It also occurs on underutilized land. In this article, we examine the social harms that arise from underutilized land, consider ways of measuring it, and propose policies to discourage it.
- [Privilege in the Wasted Land: How Wealthy Investors Hide Behind LLCs and Speculate on Vacant and Underutilized Land in New York City](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/privilege-in-the-wasted-land-how-wealthy-investors-hide-behind-llcs-and-speculate-on-vacant-and-underutilized-land-in-new-york-city/) - Over the past few months, we have published a series of articles which explore the presence of vacant and underutilized land in New York City and the role of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) in the city’s housing market. Today, we publish our ground-breaking report, Privilege in the Wasted Land, which examines the factors associated with these phenomena and clearly establishes that LLC investors are over-represented among owners of both vacant and underutilized land in NYC.
- [Virginia takes four more steps towards LVT](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/virginia-takes-four-more-steps-towards-lvt/) - Several new opportunities were just created for land value tax (LVT) in Virginia. Earlier this week, the General Assembly passed HB 282, which allows four more cities to voluntarily adopt a split-rate land value tax. After Governor Spanberger signs the bill into law (which passed with veto-proof majorities in both chambers), the cities of Charlottesville,
- [Progress, Poverty, and Petroleum: Reclaiming the Common Inheritance of the World’s Largest Petrochemical Zone](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/progress-poverty-and-petroleum-reclaiming-the-common-inheritance-of-the-worlds-largest-petrochemical-zone/) - Visitors to Puerto Rico’s south coast inevitably come across the PR-127 former petrochemical corridor, among the world’s largest petroleum complexes in the 1960s. Commonly referred to as La CORCO—a name derived from the anchor industry, the Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, the zone encompasses approximately 3,500 acres. These lands are not solely associated with CORCO, however;
- [VIDA Costera: A Theory of Change for Community-Led Climate Justice](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/vida-costera-a-theory-of-change-for-community-led-climate-justice/) - The following is Part 2 of a two-part discourse by David Southgate during the South Puerto Rico Community Summit. While Part 1 detailed the reality of "slow violence" and historical planning failures, this section outlines the transdisciplinary framework we used to empower the residents of Ponce as the primary architects of their own resilience. A
- [VIDA Costera: Community Resilience and Justice-based Transdisciplinary Science](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/vida-costera-community-resilience-and-justice-based-transdisciplinary-science/) - The following is part 1 of a two-part discourse by David Southgate during South Puerto Rico Community Summit (January 24, 2026) held at the Centros Sor Isolina Ferré, Santa Maria de la Luz Hall in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where 103 community members attended. Present also were government officials from Ponce's Municipality Planning Office, the Puerto
- [Bringing Henry George to Frederick, MD](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/bringing-henry-george-to-frederick-md/) - In my role as Executive Director of the Progress and Poverty Institute I get to travel a fair amount and talk to all kinds of people about Henry George’s ideas, in particular, the Land Value Tax (LVT). Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at a CivicCon event at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, a
- [Henry George Warned Us: Protectionism Breeds Conflict](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/henry-george-warned-us-protectionism-breeds-conflict/) - In the United States, the machinery of government usually faces substantial inertia to any major change. Democrats and Republicans have long kept the core spending and revenue model from administration to administration, even as they changed some social and fiscal priorities. The last election, however, was different. While the overall deficit has remained largely unchanged,
- [Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Champion of the Landless?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/mayor-elect-zohran-mamdani-champion-of-the-landless/) - Mamdani won with the support of the tenant class. But should he control their rent? Or redistribute it? NY State Assemblyman and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani has been declared the winner in the 2025 New York City Mayoral election, defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani’s campaign bore striking resemblance to that of
- [Why Henry George is Not a Shield for Climate Change Denial](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/why-henry-george-is-not-a-shield-for-climate-change-denial/) - In the discourse surrounding economic justice and public policy, it is common to encounter skeptics of established narratives. Skepticism, when grounded in inquiry and evidence, is healthy. However, a recent exchange on a professional forum highlighted a troubling trend: the misappropriation of Henry George’s philosophy to support anti-scientific conspiracy theories about climate change. The discussion
- [The Invisible Bank of Carmen: The Power of Reciprocity](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-invisible-bank-of-carmen-the-power-of-reciprocity/) - Carmen didn’t just save one thousand jobs; she built a bank. When a severe austerity policy at her husband’s employer threatened to slash her family’s income—along with that of more than 1,000 of his colleagues, Carmen (not her real name), a community activist in Playa de Ponce, launched a crusade. She organized, spoke out to
- [When the Taxman Comes for the Doghouse: Property Taxes, Sweat Equity, and Dispossession in Puerto Rico](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/when-the-taxman-comes-for-the-doghouse-property-taxes-sweat-equity-and-dispossession-in-puerto-rico/) - I could sense something was wrong the moment Lourdes spoke into her phone. We’d met through our shared affinity for community empowerment and local advocacy; the urgency in her voice signaled a deep crisis. I listened as my neighbor from Playa de Ponce detailed her frightening situation: defending herself against a collection letter from the
- [Lessons from the Frontline of Climate Change Why Every Community Organization Needs a Decision Matrix](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lessons-from-the-frontline-of-climate-change-why-every-community-organization-needs-a-decision-matrix/) - Opportunities for climate adaptation can emerge unexpectedly, prompting communities and their institutions to explore a maze of complicated decisions. As a board member for the CBO Un Nuevo Amanecer, Inc. (UNA), I've learned to embrace these moments through rigorous analysis. The challenge lies in balancing community responsiveness with responsible organizational leadership. Sometimes, this requires us
- [Challenging Market Failure in a Climate-Vulnerable Community: How La Playa Produces Its Own Public Goods](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/challenging-market-failure-in-a-climate-vulnerable-community-how-la-playa-produces-its-own-public-goods/) - A fundamental paradigm of our political economy is that government has an ethical and moral obligation to intervene when markets fail. The paradigm is central to the Market Failure Doctrine. The doctrine recognizes that rational self-interest produces undesirable externalities. It advances welfare economics on the grounds that state action is required to address suboptimal economic
- [LVT at the NTA: Academia is Giving George His Dues](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-at-the-nta-academia-is-giving-george-his-dues/) - In my role as Executive Director of the Progress and Poverty Institute I have the privilege of attending conferences and professional convenings in a variety of subjects including, of course, tax policy. Among these, the National Tax Association’s annual conferences and spring symposia are always a highlight - and last week’s event was certainly no
- [Henry George in the 21st Century](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/henry-george-in-the-21st-century/) - Henry George may have lived in the 19th century, but his ideas still resonate today. On October 24th, the Progress and Poverty Institute and the Henry George Foundation of Canada co-hosted an event - "Henry George in the 21st Century" - that brought together both organization's leadership, alongside former head of the Green Party of Ontario,
- [Nestor Garza & Jose Martinez](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/nestor-garza-jose-martinez/) - Proposition 13 and the Implicit Subsidy to Housing Prices in Los Angeles County Nestor Garza & Jose Martinez Video Interview Research Article Full Research
- [Proposition 13 and the Implicit Subsidy to Housing Prices in Los Angeles County](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/proposition-13-and-the-implicit-subsidy-to-housing-prices-in-los-angeles-county/) - Housing is a bundled good, comprising both improvements and land. The improvements correspond to the built environment on which human activities are performed, while the land is valued only according to its location characteristics, in the form of residual location-based land rent. The taxation of this land rent has been conceptually and empirically demonstrated to
- [A Georgist's reflections on YIMBYtown](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-georgists-reflections-on-yimbytown/) - A couple weeks back, I attended the YIMBYTown conference, where nearly a thousand advocates, policymakers, researchers, and others convened to discuss pro-housing and pro-transit reforms. One panel I attended summarized the state of the movement: We're Winning the Housing Fight but Losing the Transportation Fight. Why? The panelists suggested there are many reasons for this,
- [Hallie Eakin & Vanessa Lueck](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/hallie-eakin-vanessa-lueck/) - Reconciling Urban Growth with Water Scarcity: Limits to adaptation of opportunity for policy innovation. Hallie Eakin & Vanessa Lueck Video Interview Research Article Full Research
- [Rethinking Growth in the Desert: How Water Scarcity Is Reshaping the Future of Phoenix](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rethinking-growth-in-the-desert-how-water-scarcity-is-reshaping-the-future-of-phoenix/) - Motivation In what ways are environmental stressors re-shaping relationships among urban actors, and what are the implications for disrupting conventional patterns of urban growth? Climatic extremes and associated disasters are increasingly shaping the future of urban development in the United States. In Central Arizona, now the site of the Phoenix metro area, water – its
- [Overlapping Jurisdictions and the Provision of Local Public Goods in U.S. Metropolitan Areas](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/overlapping-jurisdictions-and-the-provision-of-local-public-goods-in-u-s-metropolitan-areas/) - 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 Mosquito Abatement District). These services are delivered by a complex
- [Francesco Ruggieri](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/francesco-ruggieri/) - Property Taxes and Spatial Mobility: Evidence from Local Governments in the U.S. Francesco Ruggieri Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Tax Land. Make Love.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tax-land-make-love/) - Cities need tools that work. Land-value taxation is one of them—and states are finally opening the door. For nearly five years I worked in community development in Memphis, TN. At the Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MMDC), our team helped catalyze more than $500 million in development across 2.6 square miles between Downtown and Midtown—alongside nearly
- [State and Local Options with the Feds Reneging](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/state-and-local-options-with-the-feds-reneging/) - With Congress declining to provide them with financial relief, the general expectation is that states will now need to cut their budgets because their respective constitutions require a balance of revenues and expenditures. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has shown no inclination to help. First, he argued that to do so would simply be a
- [Building Momentum for Land Value Tax in Colorado: An update from Denver](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/building-momentum-for-land-value-tax-in-colorado-an-update-from-denver/) - 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 problems, there is growing local interest in this innovative policy.
- [Universal Land Dividend: Why Land Value Tax and a Universal Basic Income are even better together](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/universal-land-dividend-why-land-value-tax-and-a-universal-basic-income-are-even-better-together/) - This is the third piece in an ongoing series in which we explain how local housing costs cause homelessness, why solutions to homelessness should be funded from a land value tax, and the merits of redistributing land values through a universal basic income. Part 1: “In a good economy, homelessness goes up”: The Paradox of
- [The Origin of Moral Claims](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-origin-of-moral-claims/) - At the heart of the human concept of justice lies a subtle but profound truth: not all changes in the world are equal. Some occur naturally, such as rivers carving valleys or storms reshaping coastlines. Others emerge from human effort, such as buildings erected, fields cultivated, and art created, and therefore allow for attribution and
- [An Objective Look at Land and Entropy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/an-objective-look-at-land-and-entropy/) - This article was co-written by Matthew Downhour Perhaps nothing defines a society more than its ideas on property - that is, things that people possess, indefinitely have control over, and have responsibility over. While what we do and can do with our property are easy to understand, how property comes about or how we initially
- [Advancing Land Value Taxation: Research Priorities for 2025 and Beyond](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/advancing-land-value-taxation-research-priorities-for-2025-and-beyond/) - (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 who are interested in contributing to this area, this article
- [Decoupling Land and Improvement Values](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/decoupling-land-and-improvement-values/) - Note: this article contains mathematical equations; please download a PDF copy at this link to view those equations in the proper format. Introduction Recently, there has been increasing interest in the potential for land value taxes (LVT) [1] to help combat housing crises and wealth inequality. However, one of the recurring questions raised by skeptics
- [Did South Korea just elect a Georgist President?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/did-south-korea-just-elect-a-georgist-president/) - 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 building. Mass protests immediately erupted and Lee Jae-myung, leader of
- [Leveling the Energy Playing Field](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/leveling-the-energy-playing-field/) - The stone age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. Don Huberts After the COVID-19 dip, global oil use has rebounded to 100 million barrels per day and is projected to rise to 104 million bpd by 2026 with no peak in sight. Coal remains in undiminished demand for electricity generation, the manufacturing of
- [The Dutch Ground Lease System from a Georgist Perspective](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-dutch-ground-lease-system-from-a-georgist-perspective/) - Seventeen years after the publication of Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, the city of Amsterdam decided not to sell any more of its land. Instead they installed a system of municipal ground lease, to ensure the community would benefit from the increased value of the land. The system has been hotly debated ever since, including by Georgists.
- [A Private Operating Foundation’s Perspective On Trust Based Philanthropy (Part I of III): The Gospel of Foundation Giving](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-private-operating-foundations-perspective-on-trust-based-philanthropy-part-i-of-iii-the-gospel-of-foundation-giving/) - If your life overlaps with the world of fundraising even a little bit, you’ve doubtless encountered the phrase Trust Based Philanthropy. Although the origins of the practice––which describes a grantee-focused style of institutional giving, predate the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, its popularity has increased exponentially since 2020. It is now virtually impossible to interact
- [A Private Operating Foundation’s Perspective On Trust Based Philanthropy (Part II of III): The “Why” and the “What” of Trust-Based Philanthropy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-private-operating-foundations-perspective-on-trust-based-philanthropy-part-ii-of-iii-the-why-and-the-what-of-trust-based-philanthropy/) - As discussed in Part I of this series, the Tax Reform Act of 1969 did much to distinguish foundations from other public charities and create legal distinctions between foundation types. One thing it did not affect, however, was the locus of relational power, which still rested firmly with the wealthy foundations rather than the recipients
- [A Private Operating Foundation’s Perspective On Trust Based Philanthropy (Part III of III): Bringing Trust Into RSF's Work](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-private-operating-foundations-perspective-on-trust-based-philanthropy-part-iii-of-iii-bringing-trust-into-rsfs-work/) - Trust-based philanthropy is a trend in foundation-giving that places value in lived experience and shifts the locus of grant spending control into the hands of the community organizations doing work on the ground. As discussed in Part I, because the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation is a private operating foundation, we will never undertake enough grantmaking to
- [Erasing Communities: How Progress Displaced the Playeros of Ponce](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/erasing-communities-how-progress-displaced-the-playeros-of-ponce/) - In a previous blog (The Port that Transformed Barrio Playa's Shoreline),I examined the physical transformation of Barrio Playa, Ponce, through a hydrocolonial lens. The discussion attempts to illuminate how U.S. colonial expansion and port development reengineered the coastline and displaced vulnerable communities in the name of progress. This post continues that inquiry by examining how
- [What’s That Russian Oligarch’s Yacht Doing in the Port of Ponce? Hydrocolonial Currents, LNG, and the New Global Order](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/whats-that-russian-oligarchs-yacht-doing-in-the-port-of-ponce-hydrocolonial-currents-lng-and-the-new-global-order/) - Two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the world’s largest superyachts quietly moored at the Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico. EU economic sanctions froze the Russian owner’s assets, cutting off funds that could support Russia’s war effort and halting payments to Le Grand Bleu’s crew. In hindsight, the coincidental presence of a sanctioned Russian
- [The Port that Transformed Barrio Playa’s Shoreline](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-port-that-transformed-barrio-playas-shoreline/) - The shipping cranes and cargo terminal at Puerto Rico’s Port of Ponce are linked to a powerful, official discourse that can be traced across a century. Less visible is the dispossession required to create port infrastructure, dispossession that is largely absent from academic and planning texts. Scholars working within critical theory argue that dominant narratives
- [New Reports: Land Value Taxes in College Towns](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/new-reports-land-value-taxes-in-college-towns/) - 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 Poverty Institute (PPI) published reports on implementation of land value
- [What I Do and How: Embedded Research for Hazard Adaptation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-i-do-and-how-embedded-research-for-hazard-adaptation/) - Let me begin by plainly stating what I do, something I hinted at in my first blog, “The Ethical Disclosure that Begins this Story.” In the past year I deepened relations in my geographically focused area of investigation, Barrio Playa in the Municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. My energies, as an embedded researcher, are on
- [Quarter 1 Newsletter](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/quarter-1-newsletter/) - Dear Friends, The start of 2025 has been a whirlwind. Close to home, our organization has begun its centennial year by embracing a new name while continuing to pursue the same mission we undertook in 1925. An article about the renaming is included below, and another focused on the life and work of our original
- [Eric Seymour](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/eric-seymour/) - Corporate Ownership of Small Residential Properties Eric Seymour Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Jonathan Lamb](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/jonathan-lamb/) - Ground Rules: Land Use Incentives for Inclusive and Sustainable Cities Jonathan Lamb Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Thomas Daniels](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/thomas-daniels/) - The California Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program: Evaluating the Use of Cap-and-Trade Funds to Promote Climate Mitigation and Adaptation. Thomas Daniels, Ph.D. Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Enrico Rubolino](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/enrico-rubolino/) - Does Informality Deter Tax Progressivity? Evidence from the 'Ghost Buildings' Program Enrico Rubolino Video Interview Research Blog
- [Brittaney Key](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/brittaney-key/) - Brittaney Key is a second-year Progress of Ideas scholar from Honolulu, HI, currently completing her final year in the Master of Environmental Management program at the Yale School of the Environment. As a proud indigenous (Uchinaanchu) woman herself, one of Brittaney’s professional focuses is in moving indigenous rights from paper law to real practice within
- [The Founding Board of Directors of the Progress and Poverty Institute: A Legacy of Intellectual and Social Reform](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-founding-board-of-directors/) - Originally named the “Robert Schalkenbach Foundation,” the Progress and Poverty Institute was established in 1925 through the provisions of Robert Schalkenbach’s last will and testament as a lasting legacy to one man’s commitment to advancing the ideas of Henry George. Schalkenbach, a devoted supporter of George's economic theories, envisioned the Institute as an organization that
- [Vinny Cannizzaro](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/vinny-cannizzaro/) - The Impact of Tax-Exempt Property on Municipalities in Pennsylvania Vinny Cannizzaro, Ph.D. Video Interview Research Blog Full Research
- [Beyond Bricks and Mortar: Fostering Emotional Resilience Through Community Hubs in Puerto Rico's Coastal Neighborhoods](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/beyond-bricks-and-mortar-fostering-emotional-resilience-through-community-hubs-in-puerto-ricos-coastal-neighborhoods/) - Community resilience hubs have emerged as powerful means to address social and environmental inequities in the face of climate change. Yet despite their virtues and popularity, I’ve begun to question if resilience hubs effectively respond to neighbors’ climate traumas in ways that foster emotional resilience. As an embedded community participatory action researcher working alongside resourceful
- [Announcing The Progress and Poverty Institute: A New Name, a Continuing Mission](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/announcing-the-progress-and-poverty-institute-a-new-name-a-continuing-mission/) - 2025 marks the Centennial of RSF, and along with the celebration we are thrilled to announce yet another significant milestone in our organization’s journey: we have renamed the foundation The Progress and Poverty Institute. This change reflects our commitment to the core principles that have guided us since our founding while embracing a name that
- [Georgism and the Coming Climate Diaspora (Part I of II)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/georgism-and-the-coming-climate-diaspora-part-i-of-ii/) - As the rest of the country watches L.A. burn with horrified, rapt attention, it is with a mix of compassion and heartbreak, and more than just a tinge of foreboding. This is, after all, exactly what we’ve been told would happen as a result of our changing climate. We just didn’t expect it to happen
- [Georgism and the Coming Climate Diaspora (Part II of II)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/georgism-and-the-coming-climate-diaspora-part-ii-of-ii/) - Today is Monday, January 13th. This morning’s news cycle announced that the death toll in the Los Angeles fires continues to climb, and while some are now contained, strong winds through Wednesday threaten to make the remaining blazes even more dangerous. The ultimate magnitude of the still unfolding tragedy is unknown. And although we cannot
- [Robert Schalkenbach: Advocate of Henry George's Vision and Benefactor of the Progress and Poverty Institute](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/robert-schalkenbach-advocate-of-henry-georges-vision-and-benefactor-of-the-progress-and-poverty-institute/) - Robert Schalkenbach’s enduring legacy in Georgism is a testament to his deep commitment to advancing economic justice and improving the human condition. His journey into the Georgist movement began serendipitously in the spring of 1884, when his wife’s riding lessons at James R. Brown’s stable introduced the family to the transformative ideas of Henry George.
- [Attending the Greenbuild Conference in Philadelphia in November 2024](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/attending-the-greenbuild-conference-in-philadelphia/) - In November 2024, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) held their Greenbuild International Conference andExpo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania––my home for two years now, so, of course. I had to go. USGBC is the organization that developed the LEED certification that is now commonly used all over the world to mark buildings and organizations that are
- [Henry George influence on Leo Tolstoy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/henry-george-influence-on-leo-tolstoy/) - Leo Tolstoy, the renowned Russian novelist, and Henry George, an influential American economist and social reformer, had an interesting connection based on their shared interest in social justice and economic equality. Although they never met in person, Tolstoy was greatly influenced by George's ideas, particularly those expressed in his book Progress and Poverty published in
- [LVT fans, you may “Hate the Game”, but you’ll love Daryl Fairweather’s debut book](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-fans-you-may-hate-the-game-but-youll-love-daryl-fairweathers-debut-book/) - I first learned about Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, a few years ago when someone forwarded me a video of her appearing on a CBS news program talking about land value tax (LVT). I couldn’t believe my eyes. Never had I seen this issue addressed on a network news program. After that, I soon noticed
- [No Tax Breaks for the Bears: A Smarter Approach for Arlington Heights](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/no-tax-breaks-for-the-bears-a-smarter-approach-for-arlington-heights/) - 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 Arlington Heights, the reality is that such giveaways do more
- [Footing the Bill: The Big Apple’s Property Tax Leviathan](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/footing-the-bill-the-big-apples-property-tax-leviathan/) - 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, funding the entire government from tariffs, or finding a way
- [ Money Down the Drain? The Impact of Tax-Exempt Property on Municipalities in Pennsylvania  ](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/money-down-the-drain-the-impact-of-tax-exempt-property-on-municipalities-in-pennsylvania/) - 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, Central PA, LLC. In 2022, the market value of tax-exempt
- [RSF Support for the Massachusetts Distinguished Planner Lectures Series](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsf-support-for-the-massachusetts-distinguished-planner-lectures-series/) - In 2024, the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (RSF) and the Trustees of Tufts University entered a gift agreement allowing for the RSF to support the Massachusetts Distinguished Planner Lectureship Fund at the Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences. The purpose of the gift is to fund the annual lecture series that happens during the spring
- [Land Valuation Tax Advocacy Efforts in Minnesota](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-valuation-tax-advocacy-efforts-in-minnesota/) - Have you ever noticed an abandoned home or a dilapidated commercial building in your neighborhood? Most cities in the United States are riddled with properties that land speculators are holding until their value increases. It is the people who live in those neighborhoods who suffer the most from the underutilized land. There is a policy
- [Why do Georgists oppose tariffs?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/why-do-georgists-oppose-tariffs/) - "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 land value taxes. To those with cursory knowledge about Henry George,
- [Climate Change and Community Mental Health: Important Learnings from Leaders on the Frontline](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/climate-change-and-community-mental-health-important-learnings-from-leaders-on-the-frontline/) - By David Southgate As the climate crisis intensifies, it is time to recognize the emotional and psychological toll on communities facing the brunt of these impacts. Environmental challenges, from rising sea levels and extreme weather to pollution and resource depletion, affect physical and psychological health. These impacts include extreme anxiety, depression, suicide, and post-traumatic stress
- [RSF Backs Basic Income as Antidote to Social and Economic Fragmentation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsf-backs-basic-income-as-antidote-to-social-and-economic-fragmentation/) - By Lee Hachadoorian and Frank de Jong The US economy is in tatters. But this is not only because of the response to COVID-19, which is just the latest disruption. Computers, the internet and automation have been integral in eliminating entire classes of low-skill jobs. The electrification of cars, trucks and busses alone will pink
- [There is a reason the U.S. abandoned revenue tariffs](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/there-is-a-reason-the-u-s-abandoned-revenue-tariffs/) - Mark Twain claimed that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme”; at some point though the repetition and rhyming become indistinguishable. Tony Mellon, grandson of Gilded Age robber baron and 1920s Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, gave a pro-Trump PAC $50 million the day after the former president was convicted of dozens of felony charges
- [Part I: A Strategic Approach to Affordable Housing in Bogotá, Colombia](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/part-i-a-strategic-approach-to-affordable-housing-in-bogota-colombia/) - Faced with a critical need to provide more affordable housing for the City’s residents, in November 1990, Bogotá, Colombia’s National Savings Fund (FNA) got creative, setting in motion an ambitious plan to construct over 7,000 affordable housing units. The goals of the initiative were not only to regenerate declining urban areas, but also to secure
- [Part II: Bringing Bogotá’s Affordable Housing Experience to Bear in the U.S.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/part-ii-bringing-bogotas-affordable-housing-experience-to-bear-in-the-u-s/) - Introduction Throughout the United States, the dearth of affordable housing is a persistent issue that has proven largely resistant to traditional interventions. This blog post delineates a comprehensive strategy to ameliorate this crisis, and that recognizes the fundamental importance of land in guaranteeing all people’s right to flourish. Based largely on a program developed by
- [How Land Value Taxes Could Promote Fairer Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-land-value-taxes-could-promote-fairer-taxes-2/) - 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 land which contribute to a worsening housing crisis. In America,
- [How Land Value Taxes Could Promote Fairer Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-land-value-taxes-could-promote-fairer-taxes/) - 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 land which contribute to a worsening housing crisis. In America,
- [Southern Brazil Faces Unprecedented Flooding: The Impact on Lives and Infrastructure](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/southern-brazil-faces-unprecedented-flooding-the-impact-on-lives-and-infrastructure/) - Southern Brazil has suffered five extra tropical cyclones in the last 12 months, but the most recent disaster has caused flooding which led to immense devastation to everything from farms, infrastructure to homes. Southern Brazil is currently experiencing the effects of an especially strong El Niño, a climate phenomenon describing the periodic warming of sea
- [Land Value Tax and Mortgages](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-tax-and-mortgages/) - It’s a tough time to be a home buyer in today’s housing market. Housing shortages continue, and interest rates on mortgages are about double what they were two years ago. In June 2024, the average was 6.95% for a 30-year fixed mortgage and 6.17% for a 15-year — up from 3.22% and 2.34% respectively in
- [An Explainer and Case Study on Municipal Land Trusts featuring the Upper Harbor Redevelopment in Minneapolis, Minnesota](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/an-explainer-and-case-study-on-municipal-land-trusts-featuring-the-upper-harbor-redevelopment-in-minneapolis-minnesota/) - In recent years, cities around the U.S. have been grappling with a crisis in housing supply and affordability due a multitude of challenges, including rising costs and barriers to developing more housing. Innovative solutions and models of taxation such as land value taxes and collective land ownership are concepts that stem from economist Henry George’s
- [Antitrust and Anti-Monopoly: An Exploration of Historical Context and Contemporary Relevance](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/antitrust-and-anti-monopoly-an-exploration-of-historical-context-and-contemporary-relevance/) - Significant legal cases and corporate actions have recently drawn attention to monopolistic practices, raising the importance of antitrust issues within the public discourse. From the recent court ruling deeming Google a monopoly to ongoing concerns about the potential merger of grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger, and allegations of rent-setting software enabling landlord collusion, these developments
- [Citywide Land Dividend: Can a LVT-funded UBI help solve homelessness?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/citywide-land-dividend-can-a-lvt-funded-ubi-help-solve-homelessness/) - This is the fourth piece in an ongoing series in which we explain how local housing costs cause homelessness, why solutions to homelessness should be funded from a land value tax, and the merits of redistributing land values through a universal basic income. Part 1: “In a good economy, homelessness goes up”: The Paradox of
- [“Este es nuestro momento; a message amongst neighbors in Playa de Ponce.”](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/este-es-nuestro-momento-a-message-amongst-neighbors-in-playa-de-ponce/) - “Este es nuestro momento (This is our moment),” is the message I share with neighbors of Playa de Ponce as an embedded community participatory action researcher. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (The Infrastructure and Jobs Act of November 15, 2021) provides unprecedented opportunities to take action on climate resilience. In particular, it makes possible community-led infrastructure
- [From the 19th Century to the 21st: A New Georgist Cartoon Archive is Under Development!](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/from-the-19th-century-to-the-21st-a-new-georgist-cartoon-archive-is-under-development/) - Cartoons have long been used to make political commentary, and perhaps never more so than at the turn of the 19th century, when lively images regularly graced the pages of popular media outlets, bringing to life the ideas, conflicts, and scandals of important public figures. Enthusiasts of Henry George’s ideas have long collected and discussed
- [What Henry George (and Norway) Can Teach Us About Governing the Digital Economy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-henry-george-and-norway-can-teach-us-about-governing-the-digital-economy/) - Societies have long grappled with the question of how to share (or not) the wealth derived from natural resources. Some, like the United States, have embraced systems that allow much of that wealth to fall into the hands of a few private citizens. Others, like Norway, have taken a different approach, adopting policies that facilitate
- [Ground Rules: Land Use Incentives for Inclusive and Sustainable Cities](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/ground-rules/) - Jonathan Lamb (PhD candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School) Motivations Land value taxation (LVT) has enjoyed renewed mainstream attention in recent years, through discussions in the popular press like The Economist, Financial Times, and The New York Times, as well as proposals to enact or study some form of LVT in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and California.
- [Corporate Ownership of Small Residential Properties ](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/corprate-ownership-of-small-residential-properties/) - Corporate ownership of housing, particularly 1-to-4 unit properties, has been on the rise in the US over the past decade. This trend encompasses ownership by parties ranging from individual investors using a limited liability corporation (LLC) to major institutional investors. Corporate acquisition of housing picked up after the foreclosure crisis and accelerated during the 2020s,
- [California Prop 13 Faces New Challengers in 2024 and Tough Questions of Equity](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/california-prop-13-faces-new-challengers-in-2024-and-tough-questions-of-equity/) - Forty-five years after the passage of Prop 13, property tax reformers on all sides prepare for another battle in 2024. Protecting your home—and the loved ones in it—touches primal instincts in all humans. So, it’s perhaps no wonder that California voters in the 1970s overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 13 after years of watching property tax
- [Compensating for Lost Revenue During COVID 19](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/compensating-for-lost-revenue/) - by Fred Foldvary and Nicolaus Tideman Governments owe compensation for the losses that individuals and companies incur from the temporary shutdowns that they, these governments, have imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The compensation they owe must be on-going compensation rather than the one-time payments that were recently enacted for individuals. While the shutdowns
- [Is a Land Value Tax Right for Erie, Pennsylvania?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-tax-in-erie/) - Purpose of This Report This report provides the results of a preliminary analysis to determine the on-the-ground effects of implementing a land value tax (LVT) in Erie, Pennsylvania. While the findings contained herein give an accurate representation of changes in the general tax trends within the City that will result from the adoption of an
- [Land Taxes Break the Power of NIMBY Interest Groups, a Rebuttal to Tyler Cowen](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-taxes-break-the-power-of-nimby-interest-groups-a-rebuttal-to-tyler-cowan/) - Tyler Cowen writes: "The land tax, an idea that dates to Henry George and the classical economists of the late 19th century, is having another one of its moments." In fact, the idea is older, dating back to Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, and others, though indeed, land-value taxation (LVT) is quietly gaining
- [The Great Enigma of Our Times: MMT and GCE](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-great-enigma-of-our-times-mmt-and-gce/) - The Persistence of Poverty Amid Advancing Wealth “What happens when government abandons its proper role? At the top, we get fraud. Corruption. Gross incompetence. For the rest of us? We get unemployment, inequality, poverty, and inadequate healthcare, retirement, and welfare.” L. Randall Wray, Making Money Work for Us: How MMT Can Save America (2022) [1]
- [The Basic Fundamentals of Georgism](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-basic-fundamentals-of-georgism/) - Although the political-economic philosophy of Henry George was once common to most literate people in the western world and even beyond, the past century has seen its resurgence in many quarters. This is due in part to the advent of easier communication through the Internet and other avenues. But it is also due to the
- [Vacant Land Usage and LLCs in New York City](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/vacant-land-usage-and-llcs-in-new-york-city/) - LLCs are a way to combine the benefits of a traditional corporate structure with enhanced anonymity and reduced tax-liability, making them the ideal method for limiting risk while at the same time maximizing profits. This incentivizes land speculation rather than reinvestment in the land in the form of development. At the same time, LLCs provide no incentive to improve the properties they own, leaving many areas of NYC blighted and underutilized. This has obvious negative consequences for the neighborhoods in which they are located. Because LLC owners are anonymous, there is no way to exert pressure on them to either improve or sell their properties. This is why this tool is such an important means to increasing transparency and accountability in LLC ownership. For there to be transparency and accountability, however, it’s important that the pertinent information is accessible to the public. Again, this is where the CPTR mapping tool comes in. It identifies vacant and underutilized parcels in NYC and illuminates them on an interactive map which allows anyone to see if a parcel is owned by an LLC or privately owned.
- [Squandered Opportunity: The Social Cost of Underutilized Land](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/squandered-opportunity-the-social-cost-of-underutilized-land-2/) - In our previous article describing speculation on vacant urban land, we pointed out that the attention paid to vacant housing often overlooks another type of pernicious vacancy: housing units that aren’t even built in the first place. Sometimes this looks like plots of land lying vacant for decades, even in the face of exorbitant rents,
- [Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World - Book Review](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-how-the-hunger-for-ownership-shaped-the-modern-world-book-review/) - Simon Winchester begins his new book, “Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World” by giving the history of the first land parcel he ever bought -123 acres of a forested and rocky mountainside in rural New York. When English explorer Henry Hudson first visited the area in 1609, it was inhabited by
- [Where do we go from here?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/where-do-we-go-from-here/) - From RSF Executive Director Josie Faass It feels like every time I sit down to write one of these monthly updates, our world has taken any number of strange, disconcerting turns. This month is no different. But rather than get caught up in the dizzying array of social, public health, and political upheavals that currently
- [Exploring Universal Basic Income and Its Implementation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/exploring-universal-basic-income-and-its-implementation/) - In recent years, economic inequality has increased along with housing costs, inflation and mass layoffs, all of which have significantly impacted the economic well-being of individuals worldwide. These have led to a plethora of negative outcomes including the rise of homelessness and the share of individuals who are burdened by the cost of living. Government
- [Relocating?  Housing Issues Span the Country.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/relocating-housing-issues-span-the-country/) - In a recent New York Times article, The Californians Are Coming. So Is Their Housing Crisis, Conor Dougherty delves into the conundrum of growth and housing problems. He points to the current situation in California and the fact that its residents are fleeing the sunshine to a more affordable, and less congested state of Idaho.
- [Henry George 100 Years Later: The Great Reconciler](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/henry-george-100-years-later-the-great-reconciler/) - Henry George (1839-1897) is best known today for Progress and Poverty (1879). Eloquent, timely and challenging, this book soon became and remains the all-time best-seller on economic theory and policy.In 1879, George electrified the world by identifying one underlying cause for two great economic plagues: chronic poverty arising from insufficient demand for labor, and cycles of boom
- [Applying the lessons of George’s Protection or Free Trade, pt 1](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/applying-the-lessons-of-georges-protection-or-free-trade-pt-1/) - After the signing of the Bretton Woods agreement and the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade after World War II, global free trade began a decades long period of expansion, dramatically increasing the role of international trade in the global economy by systematically removing barriers. The economic gains were immense, and while
- [The Evidence Is In: Land Is The Cause of Inequality](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-evidence-is-in-land-is-the-cause-of-inequality/) - Few people illustrate the reach and influence of online discussion better than Matthew Rognlie. In April 2014, the 26-year-old MIT student had just read Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and among the numerous reviews of the book, he felt that a nagging problem was not being addressed or even noticed. Rognlie questioned the assumptions of
- [Affordable Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/affordable-housing/) - by Lindy Davies It has been generally assumed, for many years, that “the free market isn’t good at providing affordable housing.” If the free market can’t satisfy that basic, universal human need, then we can’t afford to trust the free market, can we? Oddly, the free market doesn’t seem to have a problem with providing
- [What is Land Value Taxation?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-is-land-value-taxation/) - Land Value Taxation (also known as split-rate real property taxation, and two-tiered real property taxation) is a type of real property taxation. Whereas the typical real property tax taxes both land and the improvements on the land at the same rate, LVT taxes land at a higher rate while simultaneously reducing, or even eliminating, the tax on improvements. For
- [Henry George’s Remedy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/henry-georges-remedy/) - Common Property in Land. “We must make land common property,” Henry George declared. That loaded statement has often been taken out of context. It frequently led to George being lumped in with “the socialists” (who, for their part, strongly disagreed with George; Karl Marx referred to him as “utterly backward”). What did Henry George mean by
- [What is a land value tax?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-is-a-land-value-tax/) - A land value tax is a tax that is assessed on the value of a piece of land, rather than the value of the buildings that sit on it. Under a land tax, you are effectively taxed on the value of your location, which is mostly a result of what is nearby.In contrast, in most
- [Climate Change and the Green Tax Shift](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/climate-change-and-the-green-tax-shift/) - by Fred FoldvaryThe most effective way to reduce climate change is with a “green tax shift” which replaces taxes on wages, goods, and enterprise with levies on pollution and land values.There are three basic ways to reduce polluting emissions: regulations, permit trading, and levies on pollution.Most governments have responded to polluters and pollution production with
- [Segregation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/segregation/) - UPDATE: This post prompted an interview on the Real News Network. Watch the interview here. By: Rich NymoenMy kids recently started back to their high school, as did millions of other kids across the country. I’m fortunate that they attend public school in a district that is academically strong and fairly well integrated along racial
- [The Henry George Theorem](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-henry-george-theorem/) - By Nicolaus Tideman“The Henry George Theorem” is the name that economists have given to the postulate that, under certain circumstances, a public service will increase land rent[1] enough that, if the increase in land rent is collected as public revenue, this revenue will sufficient to pay for the service. This idea is important because it
- [Correcting Past Injustices](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/correcting-past-injustices/) - By: Bill BattHistory is replete with injustices. They affect not only persons individually but entire populations of people. In our time, various efforts are underway to newly or differently address and, if possible, rectify some of these injustices. Noticeable instances of these plaints in the United States are being raised by select groups of African-Americans calling
- [The Economics of Land Use Controls](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-economics-of-land-use-controls/) - Restrictions on and regulation of land use are known as “zoning” in the United States and “planning” in the United Kingdom as well as in many other parts of the world. The legitimate purpose of these controls is to prohibit uses of land that are detrimental to both the public and/or the land itself and
- [Impacts of Land Taxes in Thailand](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/impacts-of-land-taxes-in-thailand/) - In January of 2019, Thailand instituted a land and building tax. Two thirds of the thirty- three million property parcels had been appraised by mid-year, with the revenue intended to finance local (provincial) governments. Political pressures against the implementation of the tax, were intense in the several years prior to its final approval, and there
- [A Long-Time Partner, A New Partnership](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-long-time-partner-a-new-partnership/) - The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of the “Center for Property Tax Reform” (CPTR), a new, joint undertaking with our long-time collaborator, the Center for the Study of Economics (CSE) in Philadelphia.Those of you who know CSE, and its Executive Director Josh Vincent, know that their experience and expertise working with
- [The Minneapolis 2040 Plan Is Unlikely to Provide Affordable Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-minneapolis-2040-plan-is-unlikely-to-provide-affordable-housing/) - On October 25, 2019, the Minneapolis City Council approved the "Minneapolis 2040" plan. City officials produced it to guide the development of Minnesota's largest city into the mid-21st century. The plan focuses on a variety of developmental areas, such as jobs, education, the environment, and transportation. The plan's objectives for each of these areas didn't
- [What’s So Special about Henry George Anyway?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/whats-so-special-about-henry-george-anyway/) - By Frank de JongThe many organizations around the world that work to popularize the work of nineteenth-century American economist Henry George have three goals: a just society, a green society, and a prosperous society. Collectively, these organizations constitute an interconnected think tank advocating financing governments by collecting “economic rent” in lieu of taxes on jobs,
- [Solving the “Affordable Housing” Problem with Land value Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/solving-the-affordable-housing-problem-with-land-value-taxes/) - “But then all real estate would go to its highest and best use,” the man complained.“Yes! Yes!” I replied. “That’s the point. That’s good.”The man was trying very hard to understand my position but seemed baffled, and I had no good response beyond muttering something about wasteful downtown surface parking lots.“But then everything will go
- [What Do You Know About Taxes? Wrong!](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-do-you-know-about-taxes-wrong/) - By Fred Foldvary Two economists at the University of California at Berkeley, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, have written a book, The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay. A review by William G. Gale in the Brookings web site (Oct. 23, 2019) is titled “Saez and Zucman say
- [New Undertakings, New Staff](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/new-undertakings-new-staff/) - It’s a new year, and there are new things in the works at RSF! More specifically, we’ve welcomed some new faces to our team – which in my opinion, is the best way possible to be starting off this new year and new decade.Much of what we focus on has an important spatial component. Land
- [The Commons](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-commons/) - The earth is our common home. Most, if not all, people would agree with this principal statement, at least conceptually and in the abstract. But what could be a comprehensive practical implementation of this principal statement that would be of social and economic benefit to all? In practice, this principle can be realized through applying
- [Property Tax Incentives for New Housing Spurred Gentrification in New York City](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/property-tax-incentives-for-new-housing-spurred-gentrification-in-new-york-city/) - By Divya Singh In recent decades, significant increases in the rent-to-income ratios have worsened the affordability of living in cities across the world. A widely promulgated solution is to build more housing in cities. But if there is an excessive demand for housing in cities, why don’t developers build more units themselves? Experts have identified
- [Land Value Tax: Can it Work in the District?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-tax-can-it-work-in-the-district/) - Yesim Sayin Taylor / October 21, 2019 The idea of imposing a “land value tax” in the District pops up from time to time. Rick Rybeck at Just Economics has been promoting land value taxes for as far as I could remember. Both the 2013 Tax Revision Commission (here) and the 1997 Tax Revision Commission
- [Rev up the Carbon Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rev-up-the-carbon-taxes/) - by Frank de JongCarbon levies are fraught with variables, a whack-a-mole game of cascading effects. But interestingly, I think they will reduce both housing costs and C02 emissions.If fossil energy was purely a house-like asset, i.e., the price reflecting the cost of production, a carbon fee would behave like a Pigouvian tax, reducing emissions directly
- [Tariffs are taxes that Americans pay](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tariffs-are-taxes-that-americans-pay/) - By John H. BeckSome politicians who favor of protectionist trade policies have recently claimed that tariffs will not raise prices for American consumers. They claim instead that foreign producers will bear the burden of these taxes. However, proponents of free trade have refuted this claim theoretically and with supporting empirical evidence.Henry George, best known as
- [Video: An Introduction to Land Value Tax](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/an-introduction-to-land-value-tax/) - New Introductory Video Land Value Taxation (also known as split-rate real property taxation, and two-tiered real property taxation) is a type of real property taxation. Whereas the typical real property tax taxes both land and the improvements on the land at the same rate, LVT taxes land at a higher rate while simultaneously reducing, or even eliminating, the tax
- [Will Cryptocurrencies Force Land Value Taxation?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/will-cryptocurrencies-force-land-value-taxation/) - By Frank de Jong “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are a form of anonymous, electronic currency that is not backed by any government or bank. From any phone or computer, anyone
- [What Happened to the Freedom Dividend](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-happened-to-the-freedom-dividend/) - by Matthew Downhour Although he failed to garner any delegates and has suspended his campaign, Andrew Yang ran perhaps the most remarkable campaign of the primary. Despite having no political experience, and without a massive personal fortune to self-fund with, Yang managed to build a high enthusiasm campaign that qualified for most of the debates
- [UN climate report warns "time is fast running out" to avert the worst impacts of climate change](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/un-climate-report-warns-time-is-fast-running-out-to-avert-the-worst-impacts-of-climate-change/) - By Jeff BerardelliMarch 10, 2020 / 3:15 PM / CBS NewsThe United Nations’ weather and climate agency is out with its annual State of the Climate report, and it says “the tell-tale physical signs of climate change” are everywhere. The report documents unprecedented heat waves, fires and floods over the past year, and warns that
- [New Circular Economy Action Plan](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/new-circular-economy-action-plan/) - Changing how we produce and consume: New Circular Economy Action Plan shows the way to a climate-neutral, competitive economy of empowered consumers European Commission 11 March 2020 Brusselsimage by LittleVisuals from Pixabay Today, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan – one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda
- [Combating the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States:](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/combatting-the-economic-effects-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-the-united-states-a-policy-statement-by-the-robert-schalkenbach-foundation/) - Combating the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: A policy statement by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
- [RSF's Policy Response to Coronavirus: An "Economic Vaccine" for the U.S. (version II)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsfs-policy-response-to-coronavirus-an-economic-vaccine-for-the-u-s-version-ii/) - The idea that the earth belongs to all people, and should provide for all people, lies at the heart of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation’s mission. As the U.S. finds itself in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, this foundational idea and a shared recognition of our inherent interconnectedness have taken center stage. At RSF we
- [COVID-19 factors of production](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/covid-19-factors-of-production/) - The COVID-19 pandemic and the containment measures taken to control it likely will be together the seminal economic events of a generation, surpassing the financial crisis of 2008 and rivaling stagflation in importance. Indeed, unlike 2008 and like stagflation, this crisis is manifesting as a failure of both supply and demand; not only are consumers
- [Universal Basic Income an Economic Vaccine](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/universal-basic-income-an-economic-vaccine/) - More RSF Videos
- [An Economic Vaccine for COVID-19 (That Might Just Save the Environment, Too...)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/an-economic-vaccine-for-covid-19-that-might-just-save-the-environment-too/) - On November 9, 2016, I climbed the stairs, dreading what would come next. A moment later, I sat on my six-year-old’s bedside. “Who will save our environment?” he sobbed, his face buried in my lap. A few days later we began volunteering weekly at our local watershed organization. That is, until COVID-19 forced the center
- [The Role of Debt Cancellation in Implementing Land Value Taxation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-role-of-debt-cancellation-in-implementing-land-value-taxation/) - Nicolaus Tideman image: Daniel Thiele on Unsplash In ancient Sumer, it was customary for a new monarch, upon ascending his throne, to cancel the debts of farmers to their landlords.[1] (The debts of merchants to one another, however, were not canceled.) The Hebrew Bible establishes a similar economic and social institution, the Year of the Jubilee, once every
- [What is Rent?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-is-rent/) - The current attitudes toward government and its accompanying fiscal malaise can be explained in good part by the groundswell of resentment people feel about paying taxes. The dilemma has its roots, I believe, in the economic paradigm dominating public thought and discourse for the past century. People resent paying taxes for good reason. Most taxes
- [Does economic shutdown allow a reset on policies to make housing affordable?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/does-economic-shutdown-allow-a-reset-on-policies-to-make-housing-affordable/) - Kelly Doran, a prominent Minneapolis housing developer, argued in a recent op/ed that with the current economic shutdown, the city’s “inclusionary housing” regulations that require market rate developments to include a percentage of affordable units should be eliminated. He says that such requirements, along with the difficulty in cobbling together various sources of funding for affordable housing,
- [RSF Position on Creating a Fair and Equitable Normal (Post COVID-19)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsf-position-on-creating-a-fair-and-equitable-normal-post-covid-19/) - At RSF, our belief, one in which we advocate, is that each and every person in the United States has a right to enjoy a basic quality of life; a quality of life that reflects the incredible technological advances and economic wealth this country possesses. This belief envisions a reality in stark contrast to our
- [UBI/PPP Response Op Ed](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/ubi-ppp-response-op-ed/) - I was talking with my brother about his experiences as a small business owner during the current COVID crisis. Jay and his wife, Christina, run a gym in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens, New York. During the mandated shutdown, the fitness industry has suffered significant financial losses across the board. While this has
- [Racism and the Land](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/racism-and-the-land/) - Some say racism was invented to try to justify displacing one group of people – Native Americans – from the land and enslaving another group of people to work it. Racism may be more complicated than that, but it has been closely connected to land issues from the very beginning. After slavery ended in the
- [Rebuilding After Riots](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rebuilding-after-riots/) - The two weeks after a Minneapolis Police Department officer killed (and three others charged in killing) George Floyd, it feels like the summer of 1914 in fast forward. A single death cascaded into nationwide protests, arson, looting, police attacks on journalists, and then a presidential crackdown on protesters in front of the White House by
- [A Land Value Tax Can Decrease Residential Crowding, Alleviate Epidemic Disease](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-land-value-tax-can-decrease-residential-crowding-alleviate-epidemic-disease/) - It is always a fraught exercise to try to anticipate the overall impact of an event before that event has even concluded, and so it is with COVID 19. However, this has not stopped plenty of people from trying. A growing chorus seems to be concluding that fear of future pandemics will encourage more people
- [Restoration of a Two-Party System](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/restoration-of-a-two-party-system/) - The Republican Party as it was once constituted by certain principles and beliefs has ceased to exist. From the time of its founding by Lincoln in 1854, it had always stood for certain principles and beliefs, even when these changed. The Republican Party was initially the Anti-Slavery and the Reconstruction party. With the election of
- [GEORGISM: A TOOL TO CONFRONT ECONOMIC RACISM](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/georgism-a-tool-to-confront-economic-racism/) - Deeply-rooted racial inequalities have once again burst onto center stage of the American consciousness. Like the capture of fugitive slaves in the 19th century, the murder of George Floyd, and many others in recent months, has brought back into attention the deep inequalities that are all too easy for many Americans to ignore. There are myriad
- [How to Promote Both Greater Economic Equality and Greater Prosperity](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-to-promote-both-greater-economic-equality-and-greater-prosperity/) - [av_one_full first min_height='' vertical_alignment='' space='' row_boxshadow='' row_boxshadow_color='' row_boxshadow_width='10' custom_margin='' margin='0px' mobile_breaking='' border='' border_color='' radius='0px' padding='0px' column_boxshadow='' column_boxshadow_color='' column_boxshadow_width='10' background='bg_color' background_color='' background_gradient_color1='' background_gradient_color2='' background_gradient_direction='vertical' src='' background_position='top left' background_repeat='no-repeat' highlight='' highlight_size='' animation='' link='' linktarget='' link_hover='' title_attr='' alt_attr='' mobile_display='' id='' custom_class='' aria_label='' av_uid=''] [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kc6f20de' admin_preview_bg=''] Much has been brought
- [Toward a Green and Pleasant Land](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/toward-a-green-and-pleasant-land/) - Even victors are by victory undone.— John Dryden “Mission Accomplished,” said President George “W” Bush, with reference to the effortless United States military subjugation of Iraq. Of course, it was a pyrrhic victory. Conflict, bloodshed and instability continue in the region and within our relationship to this day. In 1532, the Conquistadors quickly defeated the
- [THE PATH TO ECONOMIC EQUITY](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-path-to-economic-equity/) - By: Frank de Jong Do not expect justice where might is right – Plato Children have no filter. They automatically demand their “fair share”, usually at the tops of their lungs. Adults typically comply immediately, acknowledging this universal law among children. But, the notion of fairness is jettisoned as we become adults. We generally assume
- [Celebrating and Continuing the Efforts of African American Land Reformers](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/celebrating-and-continuing-the-efforts-of-african-american-land-reformers/) - [av_one_full first min_height='' vertical_alignment='' space='' row_boxshadow='' row_boxshadow_color='' row_boxshadow_width='10' custom_margin='' margin='0px' mobile_breaking='' border='' border_color='' radius='0px' padding='0px' column_boxshadow='' column_boxshadow_color='' column_boxshadow_width='10' background='bg_color' background_color='' background_gradient_color1='' background_gradient_color2='' background_gradient_direction='vertical' src='' background_position='top left' background_repeat='no-repeat' highlight='' highlight_size='' animation='' link='' linktarget='' link_hover='' title_attr='' alt_attr='' mobile_display='' id='' custom_class='' aria_label='' av_uid='av-niu20g'] [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kcqd00xm' admin_preview_bg=''] When his work was
- [Remembering Dr. Mason Gaffney](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/remembering-dr-mason-gaffney/) - On Thursday, July 16, 2020 we lost a great economist and a true trailblazer, Dr. Mason Gaffney, Ph.D. The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation honors a life well lived. We will remember him best for the originality of his thoughts, and the unbridled passion he had for bucking the traditional economics mindset – fueled by his faith
- [Carbon, Climate, and COVID-19 Part 3](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/carbon-climate-and-covid-19-part-3/) - [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kdakv7u7' admin_preview_bg=''] A three-part series on causes, effects, resolutions and connections Part Three The second part of this three-part series covered how travel, transportation and trade are essential pieces of policy creation to combat negative economic impacts. The third and final part brings it all together with an
- [Carbon, Climate, and COVID-19 Part 2](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/carbon-climate-and-covid-19-part-2/) - [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kdakng5x' admin_preview_bg=''] A three-part series on causes, effects, resolutions and connections Part Two The first part of this three-part series addressed carbon economy with recommendations on how to move the world’s economy forward in a fair and equitable manner. The second part covers current and past pandemics and
- [Carbon, Climate, and COVID-19](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/carbon-climate-and-covid-19/) - [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kdakcipn' admin_preview_bg=''] A three-part series on causes, effects, resolutions and connections Part One In today’s world, it seems that the only constant is change. From the COVID pandemic to environmental and social injustices, the thing we can agree on is that more change is needed –
- [The Current State of Education Affairs from a Georgist Perspective](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-current-state-of-education-affairs-from-a-georgist-perspective/) - [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kdj2rtc3' admin_preview_bg=''] In the next month or so – depending on where you live – students around the country will be starting a school year unlike any other. School districts around the country are struggling to develop plans that will allow students to return to school
- [Executive Stimulus Order Reveals the Weakness of State Revenue Mechanisms](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/57640-2/) - By: Matthew Downhour (September 2020) With Congress unable to come to an agreement to continue stimulus, President Trump has attempted to fill the gap with executive orders to extend unemployment benefits and lift payroll taxes. His attempts to take such a role in fiscal policy is naturally constrained by the constitution, and the result is
- [Democracy and Anti-Postal Policy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/democracy-anti-postal-policy/) - [av_textblock size='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' font_color='' color='' id='' custom_class='' av_uid='av-kesnwx1n' admin_preview_bg=''] The roots of the current threats to American democracy stem ultimately from the concept of mass democracy, a policy that has always been vulnerable to corruption. Now, with the epidemic resulting in a greater use of mailed ballots, while the president is opposed to
- [How Democracy Fails and Succeeds](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-democracy-fails-and-succeeds/) - There are two types of democracy. First, the democracy of a small club with a voting membership of less than a thousand. Here, the members can personally meet and know the candidates for office, and can have their voices heard within the club. Second is mass democracy, in which the number of voters is so
- [A Tax That Boosts The Economy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-tax-that-boosts-the-economy/) - By: Victor Ramirez Like the iconic scene of Clint Eastwood in the Wild West facing two gunmen in a three-way duel and whoever shoots first is at a disadvantage, such is the nature of real estate construction. It is in each property owner's interest that some neighbor faces the risk of being the first to
- [California Voters May Opt for Value Capture to Save Transit from the Pandemic](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/california-voters-may-opt-for-value-capture-to-save-transit-from-the-pandemic/) - Addressing a conference on urban issues held in San Francisco, the British author and economist Barbara Ward (famous for several best-selling books on international equity and developmental economics) explained a key challenge afoot in the Bay Area. The year was 1967, and the locals were anticipating the launch of its ambitious regional subway, BART (Bay
- [BOOK REVIEW:  One Billion Americans](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/book-review-one-billion-americans/) - By: Matthew Downhour Analogies are simple and sometimes helpful ways to understand policy and economics but can obscure as much as they reveal. Both on the left and right, it is popular to think of the economy (or more broadly, the good things in life) as a sort of pie that everyone wants a slice
- [A Green New Deal Tax Shift](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-green-new-deal-tax-shift/) - The “Green New Deal” is a set of proposed laws that are intended to reduce the pollution that contributes to climate change. The term is, of course, adapted from the “New Deal” policies of the Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression. New Deal policies included the destruction of crops, the creation of monopoly business cartels,
- [The Value of Public Land Trusts](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-value-of-public-land-trusts/) - Achieving the American Dream. That’s what many of us strive for. And that often means seeking a home to own. Perhaps you have experienced the excitement of unlocking the door of your newly-purchased home. Sadly, sometimes that dream can turn into the nightmare of home foreclosure, shutting the door on that important opportunity. This is
- [Platform Capitalism is Eating Your Town](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/platform-capitalism-is-eating-your-town/) - Major internet-based platforms like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (FAANG) command monopolies allowing them to charge well beyond their costs. (The House Antitrust Subcommittee determined in October 2020 that Facebook wields monopoly powers in social network and has maintained its position by acquiring, copying or killing its competitors.) The portion of FAANG’s profits that lie above the cost
- [The Impact of Rent and Rent-Seeking on the Economy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-impact-of-rent-and-rent-seeking-on-the-economy/) - Most recent economics texts have devoted little or no space to the subject of rent and rent seeking. In classical economics, that which prevailed over a century ago prior to what is today known as neoclassical economics, rent was a pivotal idea and factor of production. Historical studies have put rent at about a third
- [Property  Tax:  The Last One Standing - Part 2](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/property-tax-the-last-one-standing-part-2/) - Part 1 of Property Tax: The Last One Standing introduced "Property Tax Independence Act" (PTIA) and the proposal for a constitutional amendment in the state of Pennsylvania for the sentimental sobriquet of "House Bill 1776." Read part one here. The Spirit of 76? Tax protesters everywhere put the economic and human costs squarely on
- [Property  Tax:  The Last One Standing - Part 1](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/property-tax-the-last-one-standing-1/) - As the first punches from Covid 19 landed on state and local government revenues in spring 2020, it was clear that the virus's impact, compounded by mandated shutdowns, blew big holes in budgets. Public health and the economy both slumped quickly, draining revenue for essential services. Tax holidays gave the illusion over the early summer
- [A Surprising Vaccine for Cities Hit Hard By COVID: Property Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-surprising-vaccine-for-cities-hit-hard-by-covid-property-taxes/) - Property taxes are ubiquitous around the world, and in the United States, they’re a tax most people love to hate. Unlike sales and income taxes, which are baked into every purchase and paycheck, property taxes are added onto mortgage bills or mailed in as lump sum payments, making them a conspicuous irritant to the person
- [The Presidential Election is Over.  It’s Time to Think Local.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-presidential-election-is-over-its-time-to-think-local/) - In the last weeks, our attention has (rightly) been focused at the national level, and in a time when the word “unprecedented” has been used so often it barely registers, it was hardly surprising that the 2020 Presidential election was one for the record books. But while what happens in Washington clearly affects each of
- [UBI self-defeating unless funded by rental value capture - Point A](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/ubi-self-defeating-unless-funded-by-rental-value-capture-point-a/) - A universal basic income (UBI) is an idea whose time has definitely come, especially considering the devastating COVID-19 related business and job disruptions. As well as covering basic costs for the duration of the pandemic, a UBI can and will help businesses retool, restructure and backstop startups. It will provide bridge funding for artists, the
- [Why a property tax on land value is indeed the answer - Op-Ed](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/why-a-property-tax-on-land-value-is-indeed-the-answer-op-ed/) - In response to an article written by Harrison Astbury on November 18, 2020 Why a property tax is not the answer, I believe that Astbury is half right. Real estate consists of two types of property, land and improvements. A property tax on buildings and other improvements is indeed not the answer. But a tax
- [Carbon Market Conversations Must Include Native Voices](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/carbon-market-conversations-must-include-native-voices/) - Carbon markets are expanding, with more companies investing in them each year to increase sustainability in their operations. These markets can be highly profitable, considering that revenue from compliance markets and carbon taxes reach nearly $100 billion in 2022. Despite the growth of carbon markets, coalitions advocating for the rights of Native and Indigenous populations
- [“In a good economy, homelessness goes up”: The Paradox of Progress and Poverty](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/in-a-good-economy-homelessness-goes-up-the-paradox-of-progress-and-poverty/) - Why solutions to homelessness should be funded by a tax on local land values. This is the first piece in an ongoing series in which we explain how local housing costs cause homelessness, why solutions to homelessness should be funded from a land value tax, and the merits of redistributing land values through a universal
- [Basic Income for the Homeless: Findings from Three Experiments](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/basic-income-for-the-homeless-findings-from-three-experiments/) - Basic Income for the Homeless: Findings from Three Experiments What happens when you give cash to people who are experiencing homelessness? This is the second piece in an ongoing series in which we explain how local housing costs cause homelessness, why solutions to homelessness should be funded from a land value tax, and the merits
- [Carbon Consensus: The Georgist Path to Environmental Unity](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/carbon-consensus-the-georgist-path-to-environmental-unity/) - The "debate" should long ago have ended: carbon pricing works. Study after study has confirmed this. Unsurprisingly, when it costs money to emit the greenhouse gasses that damage our climate, emissions decrease. But please don't take our word for it! To behold the mountains of data demonstrating that carbon pricing does exactly what it's supposed
- [Even an Imperfect UBI Not Necessarily "Self-Defeating"](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/even-an-imperfect-ubi-not-necessarily-self-defeating/) - I broadly agree with Frank de Jong regarding UBIs (UBI self-defeating unless funded by rental value capture): to do universal basic income without a land value tax is foolish, and fundamentally unsustainable. However, I disagree with the characterization of "self-defeating", for reasons of both a technical and political nature:1. Even a badly-funded UBI will still do
- [Land Value Capture Can Help Mass Transit Systems Rebuild Post Pandemic](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-capture-can-help-mass-transit-systems-rebuild-post-pandemic/) - The rush to declare the ‘death of cities’ in the wake of COVID-19 was almost certainly premature, given that rural areas are now struggling to contain the virus to nearly the same extent as urban areas did in the spring. However, the virus has dealt a major blow to one of the great assets that
- [The Common Aversion to Tax Study](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-common-aversion-to-tax-study/) - As a rule, people have a general aversion to discussions of tax policy. Except for the most elementary understanding – progressive, neutral, regressive, or exempt or non-exempt – public discourse on taxation is mostly banal or non-existent. It’s really no wonder, because political leaders have filled tax bills with intricate and confusing provisions that make
- [It’s time to get creative](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/its-time-to-get-creative/) - As we collectively stare down the holidays, the reality that our celebrations won’t look or feel the same as in other years is inescapable. The range of differences varies, of course. For my family, it’s planning our winter holidays without extended family for the first time ever. For many others, the difference, and the struggle,
- [Using a Carbon Fee and Dividend: A Tool to Overcome the Climate Crisis](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/using-a-carbon-fee-and-dividend-a-tool-to-overcome-the-climate-crisis/) - This past September, tens of thousands of people, including myself, sheltered indoors. Not just because of COVID mandates, but to escape the forest fire smoke engulfing the west coast. The sky was an eerie blood-orange and the air quality index exceeded 500, an extremely hazardous level. With the pandemic, the forest fires couldn’t have come
- [Financial insecurity among the Public](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/financial-insecurity-among-the-public/) - There is little doubt that much of the turbulence and uncertainty in recent politics stems from the financial insecurity Americans are feeling. There are many explanations for this - the uncertainty in the current job market and the dramatic fluctuations in the American economy. One only needs to watch the ads on TV to appreciate
- [Forging Ahead in 2021](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/forging-ahead-in-2021/) - As has become the norm, the weeks since the publication of our December newsletter have been full to the brim with breaking news and accounts of personal struggle and heartbreak too numerous to begin to address here. Today though, two main stories capture the headlines: the continuing scourge of the coronavirus pandemic and the events
- [Book Review: “The Deficit Myth”](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/book-review-the-deficit-myth/) - A Paradigm for Understanding Budgeting; What Role is there for Land Reformers? It's in the air: something called “Modern Monetary Theory” (MMT). MMT purports to have answers on how to pay for public goods without burdensome taxes, how to shift more earning power to workers, and how to circumvent gridlock and democratic stasis. Especially in
- [The Tax We Need for the Pandemic Economic Recovery](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-tax-we-need-for-the-pandemic-economic-recovery/) - How can a tax help rather than hinder an economic recovery? Believe it or not, a tax on land value would best stimulate economic recovery. A land value tax, like today’s property taxes, is based on the value of land when put to its best productive use, regardless of the actual use or revenue from
- [California Election Update: What Is Prop 19, Anyway?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/california-election-update-what-is-prop-19-anyway/) - If you were following the tax assessment beat during California’s 2020 election, chances are you heard plenty about Proposition 15. As a bill that would unfreeze assessments for commercial properties, it was flashy, impactful, and activated political blocs both For (teacher unions) and Against (the California Business Roundtable). Unfortunately (from a tax equity perspective), Prop
- [The 5G Auction: Boon or Trap?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-5g-auction-boon-or-trap/) - Behold the 5G mid-band auction. The trade press and the FCC itself have touted the auction, concluded late August 2020, as a long-overdue boon to the U.S. But something about it gives me that “Watch Out” feeling. That something is the 19th Century predatory monopolism of that tag-team combo Standard Oil and the railroads. The
- [Benefits of Land Value Tax on New York and Other Major Cities – Part 1](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/benefits-of-land-value-tax-on-new-york-and-other-major-cities-part-1/) - In the United States, no major cities have land value taxation (LVT), although a number of cities in Pennsylvania (including Allentown and Harrisburg) have a two-rate property tax. But political economist Henry George ran twice for mayor of New York in the late 19th century, hoping that capturing the mayoralty of the greatest American city
- [Benefits of Land Value Tax on New York and Other Major Cities – Part 2](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/benefits-of-land-value-tax-on-new-york-and-other-major-cities-part-2/) - How a Tax Shift Would Affect Low-income and Elderly Homeowners As previously stated, land value taxation has different effects on different demographics. So, what about low-income homeowners, or elderly homeowners? The effects of LVT on these groups specifically is not well studied, but we can glean insight from research into the traditional property tax. Public
- [LVT, MMT, UBI & BTC: The Alphabet Soup of Economics](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-mmt-ubi-btc-the-alphabet-soup-of-economics/) - Macroeconomics has remained substantially unchanged since 1971 when gold and the dollar were uncoupled. Whether this pivotal change in the early 1970s was the end of economic sanity or the beginning of a great era of prosperity is a matter of opinion. In any case, half a century later, change is upon us. There isn’t
- [Response to State Senator Erdman’s, “Nebraska's tax system needs fixing” OP-ED](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/response-to-state-senator-erdmans-nebraskas-tax-system-needs-fixing-op-ed/) - State Senator Steve Erdman’s “Nebraska's tax system needs fixing” was published in the Star Herald, January 23, 2021 and there are a few points worth addressing. Erdman begins by asserting that the property tax, among others, is bad, Nebraska being the “seventh worst state.” This begs the question of which is the best, or least-worst,
- [In Memory of RSF Board Member Paul Justus](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/in-memory-of-rsf-board-member-paul-justus/) - We have lost a great friend, Board Member, and contributor. The world has lost a great man, a great advocate of progressive economics and equality for all, and a true believer of the teachings of Henry George. Paul Francis Justus passed away unexpectedly while on a walk in his Englewood neighborhood. He was preceded in
- [California:  The Leader in What NOT to Do OP-ED](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/california-the-leader-in-what-not-to-do-op-ed/) - In early February, Nick Kristof addressed his column, A Letter to My Liberals Friends to his conservative hometown friends in Yamhill, Ore. He urged them to hold liberals accountable while doing the same for right-wing extremists, kooks and charlatans. In that spirit — and with Nick’s cheerful acquiescence — I offer a rejoinder in the
- [Is it that hard to tax the rich?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/is-it-that-hard-to-tax-the-rich/) - When the public has lost its appetite for the argument that taxing the wealthy is in some way unfair – a claim which, in the midst of a pandemic that has sharply heightened in equality, falls even flatter than usual – the next common retort is that it is somehow impossible to do. Those opposed
- [We're not all in this together: Wealth taxes vs LVT  Point A](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/were-not-all-in-this-together-wealth-taxes-vs-lvt/) - “Nature would prefer not to sell herself, but if forced to it by growth, would at least like to divide equally among her children the revenue from the forced sale of her previous gifts.” — Herman Daly Life’s not fair, but taxes should be. Henry George was livid that labourers and capitalists were rewarded only
- [Why Wealth Taxes were Repealed in Europe](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/why-wealth-taxes-were-repealed-in-europe/) - A wealth tax is an example of a policy that has a superficial appeal that dissolves when closely examined or when put into practice. Wealth is anything with a positive market value. Net wealth is wealth minus liabilities. Gross wealth does not subtract liabilities. Wealth can be tangible, such as real estate and jewels, or
- [How the US Government Collapsed the Economy, and How to Build It Back Much Better](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-the-us-government-collapsed-the-economy-and-how-to-build-it-back-much-better/) - The 2020 economic collapse was not due only to the Covid-19 disease, but more to the policy response to the virus. The optimal policy would have been to compensate all persons who suffered a loss. Then the economic losses from Covid-19 would have been shared equitably. Consider, for example, a restaurant that was forced to
- [Kansas Screwed Up.  We Can Too.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/kansas-screwed-up-we-can-too/) - Remember how Kansas became heaven overnight after they slashed the income tax? Me either. Let’s try again. Setting the stage for an overhaul of a state tax system requires fiddling at the margins of policy rather than blowing up everything at once. So, much as taxing wages is a bad idea, it takes a long
- [Florida Agonistes: Everybody out of the Water?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/florida-agonistes-everybody-out-of-the-water/) - Florida is now debating a measure to impose an excise tax on water extraction by Florida water bottling companies. And there are many questions surrounding this proposal: Is water a natural resource? Is it essential for life? Is water a requirement for advanced civilizations (looking at you, Mayans!)? Do whole ecosystems depend upon a steady
- [A New But Familiar Vaccine for New York’s COVID Economy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-new-but-familiar-vaccine-for-new-yorks-covid-economy/) - The current economic life of New York City is almost unrecognizable when compared to that of just a year ago. Faced with the collapse of the tourist and business travel industries, hotels that reported second quarter occupancy rates surpassing 90% in 2019, failed to hit the 40% mark a year later. The City’s unemployment rates
- [RENTS FALL, SUPPLY DECREASES: THE SECRET LIFE OF HOW THE BIG DOGS ROLL](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rents-fall-supply-decreases-the-secret-life-of-how-the-big-dogs-roll/) - Not everyone will agree, but I’ll say it:: synthesizing the market and planned economics to produce economic strength is the quickest path to economic and political empowerment for all people, especially traditionally marginalized cohorts such as women and immigrants. When liberalism made "peace" with markets, prosperity and liberation ensued. But, "left and right" has lost most
- [Municipal Land Trusts](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/municipal-land-trusts/) - Inspired by a proposal in Martin Adam’s book, “Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World”, the Minnesota chapter of Common Ground USA partnered with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) to explore the feasibility of starting a Municipal Land Trust (MLT) in the City of Saint Paul. Under an MLT, a home
- [How to Prevent the Boom and Bust Cycle](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-to-prevent-the-boom-and-bust-cycle/) - Why can’t the economy have steady growth and prosperity instead of cyclically falling into recessions and depressions? We can have sustainable growth if we eliminate the cause of the bust. There is one fundamental, though mostly unrecognized, cause of the boom and bust economic cycle: subsidies to land value. Eliminate the subsidies, and the cycle
- [Pricing carbon is a magic job machine](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/pricing-carbon-is-a-magic-job-machine/) - “No army can stop an idea whose time has come” -- Victor Hugo Hugo was referring to the French Revolution, but his quote also nails the unstoppable logic of carbon pricing. Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada wrote, “Climate change is a real and existential threat to the entire world, and evidence shows a price
- [No Brainer](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/no-brainer/) - There’s a lot to love about RSF, but the thing I appreciate most is its fundamental autonomy. Having spent most of my career with much larger organizations, many of which were baked into almost inconceivably large matrices of federal and state grants and regulations, or guided by missions too intentionally diffuse to allow for real
- [Protection or Free Trade Pt.2](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/protection-or-free-trade-pt-2/) - As the (delayed) tax day approaches, it is worth remembering that the income taxes coming due are largely a product of the early 20th century progressive movement to replace tariffs with income taxes. The arguments put forth by the progressives included the fact that tariffs were ripe for legalized corruption, in that they encouraged firms
- [Asking The Right Question](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/asking-the-right-question/) - Henry George’s central insight is remarkable in the way that other breakthroughs in thought are remarkable, and maybe more so. His insight? Poverty persists and deepens as civilizations advance in their ability to produce wealth because land then increases in value; where land is allowed to be privately owned and so becomes monopolized, people in
- [Taxing Rent Thaws Frozen Capital](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/taxing-rent-thaws-frozen-capital/) - The term frozen capital is used mainly to refer to any capital stock, unused or underused, that thereby reduces productive enterprise from operating at its optimum potential. In most instances, it is an accounting or bankers’ term,[1] often referring to inventory which is shelved or squandered that could otherwise increase the circulation of wealth and
- [After Covid and local recessions...Unearthing the Big Apple’s revenue under its feet](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/after-covid-and-local-recessions-unearthing-the-big-apples-revenue-under-its-feet/) - Last January, CPTR piped up with its observations on the surprise bid of Andrew Yang for the mayoralty. Borrowing from his own 2016 presidential campaign, he proposed a basic income (BI) plan for those New Yorkers left behind by pandemics, economic collapse, and no housing. At the time, a question arose: where’s the money? In
- [Californians Leaving for Greener Pastures](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/californians-leaving-for-greener-pastures/) - After working in California for four years, I returned home to Montana in June of 2017, and jumped into planning my wedding to my then-fiance’ that August in our hometown of Helena. We lived in Utah for a school year – she was teaching art, I was working online – but, by the 2020 census
- [Taxes, Justice, and Property: Bits and Bobs](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/taxes-justice-and-property-bits-and-bobs/) - How can we tell the difference between reality and fluff when it comes to surveys and public discourse? At the Center for Property Tax Reform, we believe that keeping surveys up to date on the monstrosities and brilliant ideas (and everywhere in between) now thrown up into public and governmental discourse. CPTR, by definition, does
- [Replace Minimum Wages with the Earned Income Tax Credit](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/replace-minimum-wages-with-the-earned-income-tax-credit/) - I wrote the below article five years ago. Though time has passed, the issue of minimum wage continues to impact our political landscape, our economic landscape and our social landscape. Original article: Minimum wage laws have a superficial appeal, but are much less effective than the earned income tax credit. Within the current US policy
- [Why I am a Georgist](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/why-i-am-a-georgist/) - Henry George was an American economist, social philosopher and reformer of the late 1800s. He is known chiefly for analyzing and promoting a single tax on land value, thus eliminating all other taxes. With no tax on trade, and no sales taxes and no tariffs, there would be what George called “true free trade,” resulting
- [Remembering RSF Board Member Fred Foldvary](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/in-loving-memory-of-our-cherished-board-member-fred-foldvary/)
- [Infrastructure Problems Exacerbated by a Poor System of Taxation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/infrastructure-problems-exacerbated-by-a-poor-system-of-taxation/) - The current conflict in Washington, dealing with the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars, is the much anticipated, frequently promised, but poorly defined ‘infrastructure bill’. As it stands, two versions are possible – one preferred by centrist Democrats and a few moderate Republicans that limits spending to a few categories, especially roads, ports, and
- [The Eviction Crisis: Noise and Insight](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-eviction-crisis-noise-and-insight/) - On legal process grounds, the U.S. Supreme Court has just ended the Federal eviction moratorium about halfway through its sixty-day extension. But eviction moratoriums in seven states and the District of Columbia continue, as the homelessness crisis the Federal moratorium was intended to curb persists. Reportedly, the initial moratorium, which began in September, 2020, during
- [How Our Obsession with Owning the Land Beneath our Homes Is Driving the Housing Affordability Crisis (and What to Do about It)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-our-obsession-with-owning-the-land-beneath-our-homes-is-driving-the-housing-affordability-crisis-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - This is the first in a series of articles discussing housing affordability, economic justice, and inequality in the United States. Afew months ago, I took the plunge and bought a home the traditional way, house and land packaged as one. Buying a home this way was not my first choice (more on this another time), but
- [Josie Faass Comments On "How To Fix An Assessor's Office & Not Lose Your Mind Trying"](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/josie-faass-comments-on-how-to-fix-an-assessors-office-not-lose-your-mind-trying/) - Josie Faass - Executive Director of Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (RSF) and the Co-Director of the Center for Property Tax Reform (CPTR) - recaps lessons learned from a session at the 2021 International Association of Assessing Officers - How To Fix An Assessor's Office & Not Lose Your Mind Trying. The Cook County Assessor’s Office has
- [What taxes are “fair”?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-taxes-are-fair/) - “Don’t tax me. Don’t tax you. Tax that man behind the tree!” Recent disasters and folks looking to buy houses are driving renewed concerns over resilience, affordability and sustainability. The “supply” of houses is low and mortgage interest rates are relatively low, so builders and sellers are asking top-dollar. Low property taxes also help lift
- [What are the on-the-ground effects of a land value tax? Lessons from the Pennsylvania experience.](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/what-are-the-on-the-ground-effects-of-a-land-value-tax-lessons-from-the-pennsylvania-experience/) - Property taxes are the most important revenue source for most cities and towns in the U.S., providing funding for a variety of local services and infrastructure. Unfortunately, traditional property taxes’ emphasis on taxing the value of improvements - like homes and businesses - can produce undesirable effects, including urban sprawl, blight, and land speculation. Because
- [Is a Land Value Tax Right for Richmond, Virginia?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/is-a-land-value-tax-right-for-richmond-virginia/) - This report provides the results of a preliminary analysis to determine the on-the-ground effects of implementing a land value tax (LVT) in Richmond Virginia. While the findings contained herein give an accurate representation of changes in the general tax trends within the City that will result from the adoption of an LVT, CPTR recommends the conduct of a series of more detailed analyses to determine parcel-level and other effects before proceeding with adjustments to existing property tax codes, and is prepared to carry out this work with the participation and support of the City of Richmond.
- [Value Capture](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/value-capture/) - Traditional views of fiscal policy focus on the role of government in providing benefits like safe and efficient transportation options, good schools, and public safety, financed through the collection of taxes, bonding, and other means of collecting revenues from members of the public. What is often overlooked, however, is that the beneficiaries of these investments are private: the developers, businesses, and homeowners who see their projects greenlighted as a result of infrastructure extensions, their customer bases swell because of new transit stops, or their property values soar as a result of enhanced public schooling. Value capture strategies focus on reclaiming the incremental increase in private land values (not improvements like homes or businesses) that results from public investments and returning it to the public coffers. In this way, they close the fiscal loop, making those who benefit most from public investments pay the most to support them.
- [Is a Land Value Tax Right for Roanoke, Virginia?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/is-a-land-value-tax-right-for-roanoke-virginia/) - This report provides the results of a preliminary analysis to determine the on-the-ground effects of implementing a land value tax (LVT) in Roanoke, Virginia. While the findings contained herein give an accurate representation of changes in the general tax trends within the City that will result from the adoption of an LVT, CPTR recommends the conduct of a series of more detailed analyses to determine parcel-level and other effects before proceeding with adjustments to existing property tax codes, and is prepared to carry out this work with the participation and support of the City of Roanoke.
- [BOOK REVIEW: “Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age.”](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/book-review-antitrust-taking-on-monopoly-power-from-the-gilded-age-to-the-digital-age/) - In the first chapter of her new book, “Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age,” Senator Amy Klobuchar tells the story behind the board game “Monopoly”, her favorite game growing up. She recounts how the earliest known version of the game was patented by Lizzie Magie in 1904 under
- [Is COVID-19 spending fueling speculative vacancies?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/is-covid-19-spending-fueling-speculative-vacancies/) - Housing as a human right has become a rallying cry across the United States and in many countries, especially in cities. More and more people are perplexed as to why housing is out of reach for all but the wealthy. Why have the needs of millions of regular people, not to mention the unhoused or
- [Tax Exemption in Roanoke, Virginia](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tax-exemption-in-roanoke-virginia/) - “Statutorily exempt” is the term used to describe owners of land and buildings who, by virtue of their identities, are not required to pay property taxes. Their holdings are still assessed like everyone else’s but no bill is ever generated, despite the fact that they benefit from the same tax-funded amenities (like schools, roads, and public services) as everyone else. So while an organization’s tax exempt status may feel like a foregone conclusion, their savings aren’t actually free. As part of its commitment to transparency in taxation, CPTR explores the specific implications of tax exemptions for cities and towns across the country. This report is focused on the City of Roanoke, VA. In the State of Virginia, statutorily exempt owners include religious institutions; federal, state, and city entities; public parks and libraries; charities; and more. Using the City’s 2021 tax data, it’s possible to understand exactly how this plays out in Roanoke.
- [Robert Schalkenbach Foundation Progress of Ideas Grant](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/robert-schalkenbach-foundation-progress-of-ideas-grant/) - The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (RSF) is committed to supporting original research that carries the ideas of 19th century economist and social reformer Henry George into the 21st century and beyond. To this end, RSF supports the conduct of original research into topics of social justice, land use, and public finance. Grants will be made to
- [Protecting Local Communities Means Harnessing Land Value and Building Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/protecting-local-communities-means-harnessing-land-value-and-building-housing/) - If you read any comment section or editorial page in Montana, the one sentiment that seems to be endorsed all across the political spectrum, and rarely challenged, is the fear that Montana is going to become ‘like California’. Montanans are proud of our State and way of life, and we, understandably, fear that the arrival
- [RFP launched to determine Canada's rental value](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rfp-launched-to-determine-canadas-rental-value/) - An exciting project has been initiated in Canada. After discussions with Georgist economists including Frank Peddle, Karl Fitzgerald, Richard Pereira, and Gary Flomenhoft, an established Canadian organization has released an RFP inviting economists to calculate the available economic rent in Canada. The spearheading organization, UBI Works, led by Floyd Marinescu, is intent on building a
- [The LVT Playbook: So, How Do You Build a Land Value Tax?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-lvt-playbook/) - Imagine speaking to a Mayor and City Council. They accept the idea of a two-rate land value tax (LVT), meaning a higher tax on land assessments and a lower tax on building assessments. They agree LVT is a worthwhile change. However, keep in mind that the city will raise the same revenue as from its current one-rate property tax.
- [Bias in Property Assessments: Sources and Solutions](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/bias-in-property-assessments-sources-and-solutions/) - So we’re left with these dual realities: the premise of property taxes is sound, but the execution is inequitable. And for us at the Center for Property Tax Reform this brings two questions immediately to mind: First, where does bias in property assessments come from? (After all, professional assessors’ primary objective is to create valuations that are “fair and equitable,” not for some property owners, but for all of them.) And second, recognizing that many current assessments fall short of meeting the fair and equitable standard, what can we do to fix them? It was with these questions in mind that we created our “Bias in Assessments Handbook.” The Handbook combines an extensive literature review with data gathered through one-on-one interviews with professional assessors in some of the nation’s largest jurisdictions – assessors who have personally and professionally dedicated themselves to identifying and remedying regressivity and inequities in their jurisdictions’ assessments and can speak with authority about how to do it right.
- [CPTR Mapping Tool: LLCs in New York City](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/cptr-mapping-tool-llcs-in-new-york-city/) - LLCs are a way to combine the benefits of a traditional corporate structure with enhanced anonymity and reduced tax-liability, making them the ideal method for limiting risk while at the same time maximizing profits. This incentivizes land speculation rather than reinvestment in the land in the form of development. At the same time, LLCs provide
- [Moving the Land to Those Who Will Use It](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/moving-the-land-to-those-who-will-use-it/) - "Could I begin life again, knowing what I now know, and had money to invest, I would buy every foot of land on the island of Manhattan." So wrote one of the original robber barons of the early nineteenth century. Yet almost 200 years later, the idea of holding land as a road to riches is alive and well in New York City. Though, of course, owning land is not so bad when the owner also uses it productively, provides employment, or builds affordable houses. But owning ground to make money on it while doing nothing to it is a problem New York doesn’t need. In 2022, New York City is facing a new onslaught from the financial sector and their hedge fund billions. The city is enormous––700 square miles. But under the current cruel system, struggling families and small businesses have the nearly impossible task of finding a decent location to live or do business.
- [Tax Induced Opportunities for Expanding Community Land Trust Housing in Portland, Oregon](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tax-induced-opportunities-for-expanding-community-land-trust-housing-in-portland-oregon/) - Article by Tom Gihring, Research Director – Common Ground OR/WAConsequences of Two Property Tax SystemsFor several years property tax reformers have been calling for a land value tax (LVT) to counteract rapidly rising home prices. A property tax system that raises the tax rate on land and lowers the rate on structures dampens the upward
- [Exploring the Possibilities of Land Trusts](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/exploring-the-possibilities-of-land-trusts/) - None of Henry George’s books has the word “tax” in the title. This may be because he did not want his ideas to be framed as being mainly about taxes. His central message was that land should be “common property” and that a land value tax was a better means of achieving this goal as
- [Green Acres](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/green-acres/) - Land Value Taxation (LVT) would level the playing field between new farmers and established mortgage-free farmers who presently have a huge (‘I was on the island first’) advantage. By untaxing jobs and improvements, LVT would bias towards labor-intensive, structure-intensive, value-added farming; this would mean a bias towards organic farms (which both uses less land and uses it more intensively).
- [Shared Truth](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/shared-truth/) - Apparently, cyberattacks do not only involve computer programming. There is a thing called perception hacking, a name for the kind of disinformation campaign that starts online and seeks to sow distrust and division deeply and widely in a society. In the run up to the 2020 Presidential election, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- [The Public Finance Effects of the Italian Ghost Buildings Program](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-public-finance-effects-of-the-italian-ghost-buildings-program/) - Does informality hold back tax progressivity, that is, the capacity to tax the rich at a higher rate than the poor? The optimal (and fair) distribution of the tax burden has long been a key issue in both academic and policy circles. In a new paper, I study whether reducing informality by tackling tax evasion leads policy makers to increase statutory tax progressivity. I take advantage of the Italian “Ghost Buildings” program, which is a policy that identified buildings not registered in the land registry.
- [Free Newark Now!](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/free-newark-now/) - Along with New York City, Newark, New Jersey, possesses one of the best locational advantages of any city in the United States. Founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans, the town grew by leaps and bounds; the Industrial Revolution sparked a meteoric increase in population and a multi-sector industrial and commercial base. First, canals and then railroads converged into the city. With a population of 8000 in 1820, people poured in, swelling the city’s population to 367,000 by 1910. The civic confidence of Newark was such that city leaders in government and business thought it was time to go big. In the era of bold public development, the Meadowlands of New Jersey (known as Newark Meadows) consisted of 46 square miles of what today we would call wetlands but then were called “wastelands.” 4300 acres lay inside the city limits of Newark, and plans were executed and funded by the city to build a port from the “reclaimed” land.
- [Saving Los Angeles](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/saving-los-angeles/) - To save itself, Los Angeles must return to its original hair color or, as they say, “its roots.” When my great-great-grandfather landed in Los Angeles in 1890, there were commuter trains. Downtown Los Angeles was an actual center city, not simply a name of one of over 400 neighborhoods. Los Angeles’ functional boundary currently has 400 neighborhoods whose names rarely denote anything more than a feeling from a particular time.
- [Zoning Has Been Weaponized](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/zoning-has-been-weaponized/) - Low-density housing typically refers to residential areas occupied primarily by single-family homes or buildings with a limited number of dwellings. There is no set definition, but one characteristic of such an area is that the inhabitants start complaining about any housing development that is too tall with too many units. “What about our schools?!” “What about
- [Affordable Housing in America. Will efforts to build more and cheaper work?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/affordable-housing-in-america-will-efforts-to-build-more-and-cheaper-work/) - The financial crisis of 2008-10 illustrated the immense danger of a malfunctioning housing market. According to The Economist, between 2000 and 2007, America’s household debt rose from 104% to 144% of household income, and house prices rose by 50% in real terms. San Francisco and other large metropolitan areas in the U.S. are experiencing rents that represent 40% of the average person’s earnings. Housing is too expensive, which is damaging to the economy and poisoning politics.
- [Mississippi: The Tangled Web of History, Class, Race, and Water](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/mississippi-the-tangled-web-of-history-class-race-and-water/) - It's too easy for a northeastern US observer to have an overbearing and infuriating attitude regarding Mississippi. Unfortunately, Mississippi has a laundry list––or a butcher's bill if you like, of past sins that stick in the craw of humanists and the respecters of justice alike. That said, no one is innocent. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed (after getting hit with a brick in Chicago), "As long as the struggle was down in Alabama and Mississippi, they could look afar and think about it and say how terrible people are. When they discovered brotherhood had to be a reality in Chicago and that brotherhood extended to next door, then those latent hostilities came out." So, we ought to look at the current problems in Jackson, Mississippi, bloodlessly and try to keep emotions out (I'm not saying it's easy). What happens when a group surrenders political power but economic power remains the preserve of the privileged? Perhaps, it will turn out that political power is often no power at all. Instead, it takes politics and economics for political economy like two elements forming a chemical compound producing different behaviors.
- [Who Says You Can't Have a State Property Tax?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/who-says-you-cant-have-a-state-property-tax/) - Well, okay. Lots of people. One of the crowning strategies to rouse the rabble is to ream the property tax. Fair enough. But in some states like New Jersey, the property tax is unpopular, likely because the property tax is just as high as the state income, business, and sales taxes. But some states have a lifeline for tax efficiency, equity, and progressivity. Yet because we live in strange times, state governments get the shakes regarding property tax. So instead, they throw themselves upon regressive, volatile, or inefficient taxes. Not surprisingly, these taxes hit parts of society that are powerless or don’t vote. The property tax can trace its unpopularity to simple (and fixable) quirks in most states: the bill comes due once a year. There are legitimate concerns over what happens to people on a fixed income. The house’s value may go up, but there’s no cash flow to pay for a tax bill that goes up.
- [LVT, the Key to Conservation Biology?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-the-key-to-conservation-biology/) - “The Earth is our home. Unless we preserve the rest of life, as a sacred duty, we will be endangering ourselves by destroying the home in which we evolved, and on which we completely depend.” ― E. O. Wilson A mass extinction is underway, we know this. 60% of vertebrate populations have been lost since
- [LVT on the Ballot in New Zealand](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-on-the-ballot-in-new-zealand/) - New Zealand is suffering many of the same ills that afflict American cities. Tenants facing ever-rising rents, young people and ethnic minorities being priced out of homeownership, widening inequality driven by soaring land values, sprawling cities and congested streets. A long and bitter debate that blamed land use regulations for these problems has largely been won by ‘YIMBYs’, with several waves of upzoning producing a budding building boom for townhouses and apartments. While there are some signs that rents may be easing as a result, these problems are far from solved, and public attention has begun to look for alternative solutions.
- [Citadels of Privilege: How LLCs Funnel Land Rents Into the Pockets of Wealthy Investors](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/citadels-of-privilege-how-llcs-funnel-land-rents-into-the-pockets-of-wealthy-investors/) - As housing costs continue their inexorable climb upwards in cities across the US, concern is mounting about the role played by corporate investors. Referred to as the ‘financialization’ of housing, real estate is being hoovered-up by massive investment funds with names like BlackRock and Blackstone. While attention is often paid to the institutional investors, one overlooked component of this shifting economic quicksand is the growing presence of limited liability companies (LLCs) in the real estate market. This legal structure is favored by investors looking to profit by grabbing land, avoiding the tax collector, and dodging the ire of the public eye. In this article we’ll describe how the LLC legal structure became a favorite weapon for real estate speculators, explain how they widen inequality, present our own research into their presence in New York City (NYC), and suggest some policy tools to uproot this pernicious weed ensnaring our cities.
- [From Eternal to Extinguished: The Reform of Municipal Ground Lease in the Netherlands](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/from-eternal-to-extinguished-the-reform-of-municipal-ground-lease-in-the-netherlands/) - “On a Sunday afternoon, the city council of Amsterdam flushed 100 years of progressive policy down the drain,” says journalist Hans de Geus. “Melancholy, disappointment and a fighting spirit” prevail in the green progressive party (GroenLinks). “A historic blunder,” according to Marjolein Moorman, currently alderman for the social-democratic party (PvdA). The reactions to the most recent change in the Amsterdam ground lease system were quite severe. The tenor of these reactions was that in 2016, the system was so fundamentally changed that it was de facto abolished. In contrast, there was a euphoric mood among homeowners and right-wing parties. “It’s done,” tweeted a supporter of the liberal party (VVD) enthusiastically. The system change had been a fervent wish of the liberals, who traditionally stand up for the interests of homeowners. Remarkable, because it had also been a liberal, alderman Treub, who had stood at the beginning of the Amsterdam ground lease system. By no longer selling municipal land, and instead giving it out on long lease, the municipality at the end of the 19th century wanted to get a grip on the uncontrolled growth of the city, stimulate the construction of houses, fight speculation, and make sure the growing value of the land would benefit the community, instead of the individual land owner.
- [Everybody Works But The Vacant Lot: How Speculators Profit From Our Thriving Cities](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/everybody-works-but-the-vacant-lot-how-speculators-profit-from-our-thriving-cities/) - As academics, advocates, and pundits scramble to explain the rising burden of housing costs in American cities, much has been written about the specter of vacant housing. A symptom of wealthy speculators, vacant units indicate that many investors are happy to park their wealth in real estate and profit from growth in land values without the hassle of actually having to build or rent-out empty units. This narrative is often paired with calls for a tax on vacant units, which is expected to push these units into being made available for use by tenants. While there are merits to this argument, it misses the forest for the trees, as it entirely fails to identify and fix two other ways in which scarce space within our cities is wasted: through vacant and/or underutilized urban land. Just like vacant dwellings, vacant and utilized lots are held out of use by speculators when they could instead be housing many more people. In this article, we will summarize the existing research on the causes and consequences of urban land, which primarily centers on the existence of blighted land in struggling cities.
- [A Radical Vision of Equality: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Economic Plan to Eliminate Poverty](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-radical-vision-of-equality-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-s-economic-plan-to-eliminate-poverty/) - There are few figures in 20th century American history more roundly beloved than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr – and, as an unfortunate consequence, few whose legacies have faced more colossal efforts at appropriation. This is ironic, since of course in his own lifetime Dr King was among the most polarizing figures in American politics. This transformation has been facilitated in no small part by the snipping of his most broadly agreeable remarks and views and a great deal of ignorance about Dr King’s sophisticated – but more controversial – economic views. Economics were fundamental to Dr King’s career, and the ultimate goal of his economic thought was the elimination of poverty. It was to this end that King promoted the Freedom Budget of All Americans, which had as its goal the “determination that in this, the richest and most productive society ever known to man, the scourge of poverty can and must be abolished—not in some distant future, not in this generation, but within the next ten years!” King endorsed the budget and threw the support of the Southern Christian Leadership Council behind it.
- [Earth Rent: The Future of the Dutch Ground Lease System](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/earth-rent-the-future-of-the-dutch-ground-lease-system/) - After Amsterdam, Rotterdam is the largest Dutch municipality in terms of population. Since the 1970s, this municipality has given out almost all of its new land under ground lease conditions. One of the goals of the ground lease system was to allow the entire community to benefit from the increase in land value, instead of just the individual land owner. In 2003, however, this objective was explicitly dismissed in Rotterdam. From then on, the increase in value of the land would no longer be collected by the community, but by the user of the land. So the council of mayor and aldermen judged, and probably not entirely coincidentally the first council since World War II without the social-democratic party PvdA. The idea was that individuals should be able to build up their own capital through land ownership and would thus develop a more intensive bond with their living environment. From that year on, private ownership of land became the new standard in Rotterdam and leasehold the exception. In Amsterdam, too, a council without the social democrats took office in 2014, after the PvdA had been represented in the municipal council for more than a century. More than 125 years ago, Amsterdam had been the first Dutch municipality in which it was decided to issue all land under ground lease conditions. The municipality nowadays still owns about 80 percent of the land. And since its introduction in 1896, the original goal of allowing the increase in the value of land to benefit the community had never been changed.
- [Methodology and Findings for the ‘California Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program: Evaluating the Use of Cap-and-Trade Funds to Promote Climate Mitigation and Adaptation.’](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/methodology-and-findings-for-the-california-sustainable-agricultural-lands-conservation-program-evaluating-the-use-of-cap-and-trade-funds-to-promote-climate-mitigation-and-adaptation/) - Tom Daniels, Crossways ProfessorDept. of City and Regional PlanningUniversity of Pennsylvania IntroductionThe research project on the California Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) program combined the broader exploration of how the SALC might serve as a national model—both to preserve farmland from conversion to development and to address climate change—together with a fine-grained analysis of the
- [A Pathway to Opening the Urban Land Market to Affordable Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/a-pathway-to-opening-the-urban-land-market-to-affordable-housing/) - States can grant regulatory authority to local governments to amend zoning and tax laws to increase housing affordability and not put a hole in city budgets In this paper we explore three approaches to solving the growing housing affordable housing crisis. First, I summarize some of the arguments that have been made for broad-scale up-zoning,
- [Driving the Shift: Tax activism and the move to Land Value Tax](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/driving-the-shift-tax-activism-and-the-move-to-land-value-tax/) - Here at the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, our research initiative Resource Justice recently hosted an event called Driving the Shift, as a forum to hear from local efforts to advance land value tax policies in places throughout the U.S. We were lucky enough to hear from a diverse range of speakers, including academic insights on Detroit;
- [Greenspace and Gentrification: How to ensure that urban parks & gardens benefit everyone](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/greenspace-and-gentrification-how-to-ensure-that-urban-parks-gardens-benefit-everyone/) - In this article we explore the complex question of how to ensure that greenspace and other urban amenities will actually benefit the communities to which they are targeted. We will highlight the many benefits of urban greenspace, explore the lesser-known implications for both nearby house prices and the rents faced by tenants, and discuss ways to ensure that the attractive greenspaces are financed by those households who they benefit most while also making sure that vulnerable tenants also share in their many desirable social and environmental outcomes.
- [Fiscal Weakness of Managed Retreat: Inequities and Local Disincentives](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/fiscal-weakness-of-managed-retreat-inequities-and-local-disincentives/) - Climate change poses a significant threat to numerous regions in the United States, rendering them increasingly uninhabitable due to rising sea levels, flooding, wildfires, and more. As a response to this challenge, managed retreat has emerged as a strategy to relocate affected households, neighborhoods, and even communities away from harm's way. Although managed retreat can involve a number of processes, the use of buyouts––the voluntary purchasing of private properties using public funds (which is intended to spur the relocation of at-risk households to lower risk locations), is a critical (and in many places, virtually the only) tool in a policy maker’s toolbox. While physically moving people out of harm’s way makes intuitive sense, the real world applications of managed retreat-related buyouts are highly complex, emotional, and fraught with weighty fiscal and equity implications. Here we explore some basic financial considerations of managed retreat, shedding light on the challenges faced by affected municipalities and fundamental flaws in the system as a whole.
- [Unequal Ground: The Racialized Landscape of Land Ownership and Federal Buyouts in the United States](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/unequal-ground-the-racialized-landscape-of-land-ownership-and-federal-buyouts-in-the-united-states/) - In the face of climate change's far-reaching impacts, the notion of land as an unyielding and permanent resource has been shattered and replaced by a landscape in flux. Rising sea levels, intensified flooding, and other climate-related events have cast a shadow over the stability of our land, compelling us to rethink our approaches and policies in response to these evolving challenges. One such approach is managed retreat, a concept entailing the relocation of human settlements and infrastructure from vulnerable or high-risk areas due to environmental factors. Within managed retreat, various strategies are employed, including acquisition and buyouts, zoning and land-use regulations, land swaps, and community engagement.
- [Green Georgism: Environmentalism through the eyes of Resource Justice](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/green-georgism-environmentalism-through-the-eyes-of-resource-justice/) - Our world is facing an ever-escalating array of environmental challenges. From the alarming rise in global temperatures and the subsequent impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and shrinking ice caps, to the devastating consequences of deforestation, habitat loss, and species extinction, our planet is in dire need of urgent action. These challenges require us to think carefully about how we can promote the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources such as land, minerals, oceans and wildlife. Here at the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation our core mission is to advance the ideas of Henry George and to realize his vision of a world that recognizes humanity’s collective right to the bounty provided by our planetary resources. We have historically focused on applying this Georgist worldview to urban land use and property tax reform. However, our pioneering research center, Resource Justice (RJ), is responding to these looming environmental challenges by expanding our mission and working to foster research into the sustainable, efficient and equitable utilization of natural resources. Recognizing the urgent need for actionable policy solutions motivated by compelling values and informed by responsive research, we consider these ecological concerns to be key priorities here at RJ.
- [Georgism has always been Green: a tale of two movements](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/georgism-has-always-been-green-a-tale-of-two-movements/) - Building upon the foundation laid in our first blog, “Green Georgism: Environmentalism through the eyes of Resource Justice," our second piece delves deeper into the connections between Henry George's ideas and key perspectives from the past century of environmentalism. This blog explores how Georgism dovetails with key aspects of environmentalism, and provides useful insights into the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. By examining the broader definition of land as encompassing all natural materials, forces, and opportunities, we align George's vision with modern environmental concerns, addressing issues such as urban sprawl, wealth inequality, and the preservation of natural capital.
- [The Principles and Policies of Green Georgism: LVT, Carbon Tax, Ecotax reform](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-principles-and-policies-of-green-georgism-lvt-carbon-tax-ecotax-reform/) - In this third installment of our blog series on Green Georgism we delve into the world of ecological tax reform, exploring the fusion of ecotaxes and green incentives to promote sustainable development. Ecotaxes, or green taxes, impose levies on activities with harmful environmental impacts, while green incentives offer financial benefits for eco-friendly practices. We will
- [Champlain Housing Trust: Affordable housing through community land ownership](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/champlain-housing-trust-affordable-housing-through-community-land-ownership/) - With city dwellers facing ever-rising housing costs, there is rising interest in community land trusts (CLT) as a way to curtail rampant speculation in the property market and provide permanently affordable housing. Inspired by the garden cities movement and the ideas of Henry George, CLTs aim to keep housing affordable in perpetuity via a housing
- [North Carolina moves forward with slashing its flat income tax rate](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/north-carolina-moves-forward-with-slashing-its-flat-income-tax-rate/) - Passing on the LVT option, North Carolina moves forward with slashing its flat income tax rate anyway. On September 20th, North Carolina House and Senate leaders put forth a long-anticipated two- year budget agreement. The agreement does not include the Land Value Tax that Resource Justice outlined in a recent policy memo; however, as anticipated,
- [How does a land value tax shift work in practice?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-does-a-land-value-tax-shift-work-in-practice/) - With so many cities grappling with rising rents, insufficient supply of new housing and widening inequality, many are starting to consider the ways in which these challenges could be mitigated by shifting the tax base onto land values. In a previous blog post, we explained the myriad ways in which land value taxes are efficient
- [Can there be progress without poverty in the 21st century?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/can-there-be-progress-without-poverty-in-the-21st-century/) - The Industrial Revolution transformed America and Europe. In just a century, an economy long powered by wind, water, and muscle became supercharged by steam, coal, and electricity. Canals, railroads, steamships and the telegraph were linking regional economies into a national and global network of exchange. In America, the resident population swelled thirty percent from 1870
- [Land Value Tax plan takes shape in Detroit, as negotiations continue](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-tax-plan-takes-shape-in-detroit-as-negotiations-continue/) - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s plan to implement a Land Value Tax continues moving forward, albeit with a new timeline. Since May 31, when Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan unveiled a plan to introduce a Land Value Tax, Michigan tongues have been wagging furiously. Declaring the current Detroit tax structure as “the biggest obstacle in the city’s
- [Exploring Detroit's Land Value Tax Plan: A Revenue-Neutral Approach](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/exploring-detroits-land-value-tax-plan-a-revenue-neutral-approach/) - Building on the lessons of the roughly 20 Pennsylvania municipalities and school districts that have made use of Land Value Taxes (LVT), Detroit’s Mayor Duggan introduced a proposal to bring the policy to his City in May 2023, during the Mackinac Policy Conference. This plan, which underwent revisions before being formally unveiled in September 2023
- [Detroit's Land Value Tax Plan: A Game Changer for Tax Bills](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/detroits-land-value-tax-plan-a-game-changer-for-tax-bills/) - Detroit's current tax system has long been a subject of criticism, with homeowners burdened by some of the highest property taxes in Michigan. Paradoxically, because land values are low, the owners of the City’s many abandoned buildings, scrap yards, and parking lots face low taxes, contributing to blight and a lack of investment in the
- [Anticipating the Impact: Detroit's Land Value Tax Implementation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/anticipating-the-impact-detroits-land-value-tax-implementation/) - Detroit, like many urban centers, faces the challenge of balancing the need for steady, predictable tax revenues with the desire to promote economic growth and equitable development. The Land Value Tax (LVT) plan proposed by Mayor Duggan seeks to address these challenges head-on. Drawing upon studies and experiences from other regions, this blog examines the
- [Addressing Common Concerns and Building Support for Detroit's Land Value Tax Plan](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/addressing-common-concerns-and-building-support-for-detroits-land-value-tax-plan/) - Exploring the criticisms of Detroit's Land Value Tax Plan: Do they have merit? Detroit's Land Value Tax (LVT) plan has generated considerable discussion within the City and beyond. Many support the plan for its potential to transform Detroit's tax system, promote development, and provide tax relief for homeowners. However, skeptics have expressed some recurring concerns,
- [Is Workforce Housing the Answer to America's Affordable Housing Crisis?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/is-workforce-housing-the-answer-to-americas-affordable-housing-crisis/) - Increasingly, the people who make our communities run - our teachers, police officers, and facility workers - can no longer afford to live where they work. “Workforce housing” is an increasingly popular solution to this problem. What is it, and does it represent an equitable solution in the fight against America’s affordable housing crisis? Killington
- [RSF responds to the New York Times article titled "The ‘Georgists’ Are Out There, and They Want to Tax Your Land"](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsf-responds-to-the-new-york-times-article-titled-the-georgists-are-out-there-and-they-want-to-tax-your-land/) - "As one-clause headlines summarizing century old movements go, “Georgists want to tax your land!” is not the worst, as it succinctly describes how Georgism would impact one particularly literate and tuned in class of people - landowners. But it misses the most important piece of George’s philosophy: that taxes on land ownership should help alleviate
- [Disaster Response to Hurricane Sandy Highlights Disparities in Home Buyouts](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/disaster-response-to-hurricane-sandy-highlights-disparities-in-home-buyouts/) - New York received record-breaking rainfall in 2023, which led to flooding in coastal and urban areas. As the state grapples with recurring flooding issues, residents are reminded of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, where governments were challenged with the displacement of thousands of families and damage to 650,000 homes in the Northeastern United States, especially in
- [Land & Racial Injustice - Part 5: Reaping What Was Sowed](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-racial-injustice-part-5-reaping-what-was-sowed/) - This is the fifth piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States:Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910)Part 3: Homeownership: White Subsidy, Black Exclusion (1910 to 1970)Part
- [Land & Racial Injustice - Part 4: The Invisible Hand of the Housing Market (1970 to Today)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-racial-injustice-part-4-the-invisible-hand-of-the-housing-market-1970-to-today/) - This is the fourth piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States:Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910)Part 3: Homeownership: White Subsidy, Black Exclusion (1910 to 1970)Part
- [Land & Racial Injustice - Part 3: Homeownership: White Subsidy, Black Exclusion (1910 to 1970)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-racial-injustice-part-3-homeownership-white-subsidy-black-exclusion-1910-to-1970/) - This is the third piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910)Part 3: Black Exclusion, White Subsidy (1910 to 1970)
- [Land & Racial Injustice - Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-racial-injustice-part-2-40-acres-and-a-ghoul-1865-to-1910/) - This is the second piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910) 👈 (you are here)Part 3: Black Exclusion, White
- [Land & Racial Injustice - Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-racial-injustice-part-1-slaveholders-and-land-monopoly-1619-to-1865/) - This is the first piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865) 👈 (you are here)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865 to 1910)Part 3: Black Exclusion, White
- [Land Value Tax Promoted by Colorado Governor Gets Attention by Commission](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-tax-promoted-by-colorado-governor-gets-attention-by-commission/) - At the dawn of 2024, Colorado residents have property taxes on their minds. That’s because county assessors across the state have increased property values significantly — around 40% in El Paso and Pueblo counties, between 35% and 45% in metro Denver counties, and from 40% to 70% in the ski resort towns. Statewide, the average
- [Revolutionizing Civic Planning: Community_inPUT - A Blockchain-Powered Pilot Study](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/revolutionizing-civic-planning-community_input-a-blockchain-powered-pilot-study/) - The evolving landscape of civil planning and community engagement is witnessing a paradigm shift, particularly through the innovative use of blockchain technology. Community_inPUT, an ambitious pilot study, stands at the forefront of this revolution by leveraging blockchain to transform civic planning processes. The implementation of blockchain within Community_inPUT offers a revolutionary approach to community engagement.
- [Exploring Web3 Technologies in Urban Planning: A Paradigm Shift Towards Decentralization and Engagement](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/exploring-web3-technologies-in-urban-planning-a-paradigm-shift-towards-decentralization-and-engagement/) - The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and with it, emerging technologies like Web3 are redefining the way we interact with and plan for our communities. At the heart of this evolution lies the concept of a decentralized internet—a Web3 technology—that operates on a network free from monopolistic control of data. This fusion of blockchain with
- [How popular is Land Value Tax in 2024?](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/how-popular-is-land-value-tax-in-2024/) - Land Value Tax (LVT) is not a new concept, yet many with an interest in the policy have noticed a recent uptick in news stories and online discussions on the subject, as well as an increasing number of U.S. municipalities and states giving serious consideration to its adoption. This blog couples descriptions of significant state
- [Land Tax Makes Progress in Australia with New Law](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-tax-makes-progress-in-australia-with-new-law/) - In a certain sense, Australia was built on a land value tax. In fact, at the formation of the nation in 1901, a land value tax had already been in force in South Australia and New South Wales for about 20 years, with some jurisdictions taxing the value of raw, unimproved land and others, the
- [Understanding Carbon Markets in the Future of Climate Change: Challenges and Key Considerations following COP28](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/understanding-carbon-markets-in-the-future-of-climate-change-challenges-and-key-considerations-following-cop28/) - In the fight against climate change, leaders at COP28 negotiated the creation of a global carbon market that could revolutionize climate economics. Following disagreements about key regulations in an international market, this blog will outline the basics of carbon markets, its challenges, and key considerations. What are Carbon Markets? There are two types of carbon
- [Embedded critical climate research: the ethical disclosure that begins this story](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/embedded-critical-climate-research-the-ethical-disclosure-that-begins-this-story/) - (Photo from La Casa de Arte y Cultura de La Playa de Ponce) By David Southgate A surge of relief flooded over me as I engaged in candid dialogue with neighborhood leaders about research ethics and my role as a community-embedded critical climate researcher. What had me in knots beforehand wasn’t a struggle for words,
- [Nothing about us, without us: Community-led research supports climate adaptation ](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/nothing-about-us-without-us-community-led-research-supports-climate-adaptation/) - As President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative celebrates its third anniversary, historically underserved communities around the country continue to draw inspiration from the unprecedented commitment to environmental justice. The 40 in the title stands for the goal of channeling 40% of the federal investment benefits into neighborhoods marginalized and overburdened by pollution. The administration claims that Justice40 was born
- [Land Value Capture: A New Weapon Against Climate Change](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-value-capture-a-new-weapon-against-climate-change/) - When public funds increase land value, communities may tap the profit to fight climate change. When the Warm Springs / South Fremont Station in San Francisco opened for passenger service on March 25, 2017, there was much rejoicing. Not only had the station come in $100 million under budget, it promised reliable public transport for
- [Climate-driven relocation of Louisiana’s Indigenous tribes must consider community and culture](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/climate-driven-relocation-of-louisianas-indigenous-tribes-must-consider-community-and-culture/) - A part of our Climate Change Equity and Adaptation series In the wake of rising seas and coastal erosion, forced home relocations raise the specter of genocide for North America’s First Peoples. Yet despite the risk of indigenous erasure, dominant climate relocation strategies fail to consider such complicated, inconvenient truths. I first encountered the rejection
- [Universal Basic Income](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/universal-basic-income/) - by Fred Foldvary image : wikipedia Universal Basic Income (UBI) is defined as income that is provided to every person who resides in a specified locality, without any conditions other than residency. Income to a minor would be held in a trust and used to pay a minor’s expenses such as school tuition and medical
- [The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good, even when it comes to Raising Public Revenue](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-perfect-is-the-enemy-of-the-good-even-when-it-comes-to-raising-public-revenue/) - By Edward J. Dodson / January 2020 As Americans contemplate whether and how to exercise their vote in this year’s elections, they have numerous important issues to consider. One vital issue is what, if any, legislative changes will the newly-elected Federal, State and even Local governments pursue with regard to much- needed public revenue. We
- [Housing Affordability](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/housing-affordability/) - Imagine living in an indigenous, pre-modern and traditional community such as existed in the Amazon prior to the invasions by Brazilian miners and farmers. Would anyone in such a community be homeless? Of course not. Any capable member of the community would be able to go into the forest, gather some wood, and build a

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- [Scholarships 26 Updated](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/scholarships-26-updated/) - Scholar Support Long ago, Henry George wrote, “Social reform is not to be secured by noise and shouting; by complaints and denunciation; by the formation of parties, or the making of revolutions; but by the awakening of thought and the progress of ideas. Until there be correct thought, there cannot be right action; and when
- [Team](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/team/) - Our Team The staff and board of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation are committed to carrying out the mission of our organization to realizing Henry George’s vision of a world with progress aimed to enhance liberty and equality for all people. Learn more about our team below, or click here to learn more about our mission, history,
- [Centennial](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/centennial/) - A Century of Honoring the Past and Building a More Equitable Future Founded in 1925 as the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, the Progress and Poverty Institute was created to share the ideas of Henry George – especially those put forth in his seminal work Progress and Poverty – with the world. Throughout our 100+ year history we
- [2025-26 Progress of Ideas Grants](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/2026-progress-of-ideas-grant/) - 2026 Progress of Ideas Grant The Progress and Poverty Institute is currently accepting applications for Progress of Ideas Grants. Applications will be accepted through Monday, April 6 2026 at 8:00pm Eastern. View Program FAQ's The Institute invites applications on Land Value Taxation and research utilizing the Mason Gaffney Digital Archive. The “Progress of Ideas” Grant Program
- [2026 Progress of Ideas Grant Application - LVT](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/2026-progress-of-ideas-grant-application-lvt/) - Land Value Taxation 2026 Progress of Ideas Grant Application The Institute invites applications on Land Value Taxation and research utilizing the Mason Gaffney Digital Archive. The “Progress of Ideas” Grant Program is open to U.S. based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Grants of up to $10,000 will be considered. Land Value Taxation PPI invites proposals for research or
- [2026 Progress of Ideas Grant Application - Gaffney](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/2026-progress-of-ideas-grant-application-gaffney/) - Mason Gaffney Digital Collection 2026 Progress of Ideas Grant Application The Institute invites applications on Land Value Taxation and research utilizing the Mason Gaffney Digital Archive. The “Progress of Ideas” Grant Program is open to U.S. based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Grants of up to $10,000 will be considered. Mason Gaffney Digital Collection PPI welcomes proposals in
- [Mason Gaffney Digital Collection](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/mason-gaffney-digital-collection/) - The Mason Gaffney Digital Collection Merrill Mason Gaffney (1923 - 2020) Merrill Mason Gaffney (1923-2020) was an accomplished and prolific scholar at the forefront of a tax-policy movement. This work advocated taxing only land that was based upon the ideas of Henry George, which sparked the Progressive movement in the 19th century, writes David Cay
- [New Jersey](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/new-jersey/) - New Jersey Projects What would a land value tax do for Princeton, new jersey?
- [Virginia](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/virginia/) - Virginia Richmond, VA Enhancing Equity in Taxation: A land value tax for Richmond, VA Richmond 300 and Land Value Tax: Enabling & Encouraging Growth Fairfax, VA A Land Value Tax Shift for Fairfax City, VA
- [Gaffney](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/gaffney/) - The content classification scheme below was developed by Professor Gaffney to organize and prioritize what he considered to be his most important works. ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS Forest Economics Concepts of Financial Maturity of Timber and Other Assets. Agricultural Information Series #62, N.C. State College, Raleigh, 1957. 113 pages. 2nd Impression 1960. Reformatted but unrepaginated
- [Land and Property Taxation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-and-property-taxation/) - Land and Property Taxation Although the name may not be familiar to many Americans, the concept of a Land Value Tax (LVT) is not far removed from that of traditional property taxes. And although in this country, applications of LVT are currently largely restricted to municipalities and school districts in Pennsylvania, this policy is used
- [Non Profit Transparency](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/non-profit-transparency/) - Non Profit Transparency The Progress and Poverty Institute (formerly known as the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation) was founded in 1925 – and we’ve been pursuing our mission of economic justice ever since. We’re pleased to share our 990’s and Annual Reports with you. 990s 2021 990 View Here 2022 990 View Here Annual Reports Our Mission
- [Colorado](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/colorado/) - Colorado Projects Presentation on LVT to YIMBY Denver - July 2025 Primer on land value tax - for the Colorado commission on property tax A land value tax for colorado
- [Engel Georgist Library](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/engel-georgist-library/) - Engel Georgist Library The Progress and Poverty Institute (originally the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation), was founded more than 100 years ago to share and promote the ideas of political economist and journalist Henry George. Our Engel Georgist Library and Archive, located in Princeton, NJ, makes George’s works – as well as content produced by Georgist thinkers
- [LVT Toolkit](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/lvt-toolkit/) - LVT Toolkit To learn more about PPI’s work across the United States and in Puerto Rico, click the link below. View LVT Work here Want to hear about the current state of LVT advocacy in the US and learn how to build momentum for an LVT in your area? Watch this recording from LVT Landscape
- [Get Involved](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/get-involved-2/) - Get Involved Whether it’s writing, research, donations, or something else, the Progress and Poverty Institute wants to hear from you! Make a Donation Make a donation to support our key initiatives: The Center for Property Tax Reform, the Engel Georgist Library, and opportunities to support our Sponsored Research and Scholarship Programs. Read More Planned Giving
- [Contact](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/contact/) - Contact Us We would love to hear from you! Do you have an article you would like to submit? Would you like to become involved in sharing the mission of the Progress and Poverty Institute and the vision of Henry George? Would you like to partner with us to raise awareness on the philosophies and
- [Community Research and Advocacy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/community-research-and-advocacy/) - Community Research and Advocacy Economic equity is not an abstract concept, it has its roots in communities across the U.S. and the world.Progress and Poverty Institute staff are always looking for opportunities to support local efforts to adopt policies – like Land Value Taxes, Universal Basic Income, and systems for effective climate adaptation and migration
- [Pennsylvania](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/pennsylvania/) - Pennsylvania Projects what happened when pennsylvania taxed land?
- [Michigan](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/michigan/) - Michigan Projects Anticipating the Impact: Detroit’s Land Value Tax Implementation Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan: A Game Changer for Tax Bills Exploring Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan: A Revenue-Neutral Approach Land Value Tax plan takes shape in Detroit, as negotiations continue Addressing Common Concerns and Building Support for Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan
- [New York City](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/new-york-city/) - New York City Projects Privilege in the wasted land Footing the Bill: Fifty Years of NYC Overtaxing Tenants, Towers, and Low-Income Communities of Color The Leviathan: Property Taxes in the Big Apple Anti-Poverty Groups ID Property Taxes as a Culprit in Affordable Housing Shortage NYC’s Unfair Property Tax Code Turns 50: A Birthday Party and
- [United States](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/united-states/) - United States
- [Website Privacy Policy](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/website-privacy-policy/) - Terms of Use: Progress and Poverty Institute/Robert Schalkenbach Foundation Welcome to www.schalkenbach.org. By using this website, mobile application, or The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation’s social networks, including but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, (collectively, the “Site”), including your use of the products and services offered through the Site (the “Services”), you are agreeing
- [Who We Are](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/who-we-are/) - Our Vision & Mission Our Vision A world of liberty and equality of opportunity arising from economic, social and environmental justice. Our Mission To enhance liberty and equality of opportunity for all people through research, outreach, and community-level interventions that integrate concerns for economic, social, and environmental justice; poverty; and government granted privileges. History of
- [Planned Giving](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/planned-giving/) - Planned Giving Legacy and Remembrance Planned giving can be a way to honor the memory of a loved one, a meaningful way to start your own legacy, and a thoughtful way to impact future generations. As a Private Operating Foundation (POF), the legacy and work of RSF is built in part on the funds left
- [Graduate Studio Class](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/graduate-studio-class/) - Graduate Studio Class in Playa de Ponce, PR The resources contained on this page were produced by graduate students enrolled in a studio course at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. The course was taught by PPI Executive Director, Josie Faass, in the Fall Term of 2025.Like any
- [Our Team](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/our-team/) - The RSF Team The staff and board of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation are committed to carrying out the mission of our organization to realizing Henry George’s vision of a world with progress aimed to enhance liberty and equality for all people. Learn more about our team below, or click here to learn more about our mission,
- [About Us](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/about-us/) - About Us Our Team Learn about the staff and board members who help advance the mission of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation and support our work to address economic and social issues. View Our Staff and Board Members Mission and History Learn about the history of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation and how our mission is still
- [Environment and Climate Change](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/environment-and-climate-change/) - Environment and Climate Change Articles and Resources Georgism has always been Green: a tale of two movements Building upon the foundation laid in our first blog, “Green Georgism: Environmentalism through the eyes of Resource Justice,” our second piece delves deeper into the connections between Henry George’s ideas and key perspectives from the past century of
- [The Poverty Problem -- Asking The Right Question](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/the-poverty-problem-asking-the-right-question/) - The Poverty Problem -- Asking The Right Question When Henry George stumbled on the insight that changed his life and enabled him to write books that galvanized millions of readers, it was because he formulated an economic question in a unique way: Why does poverty persist and deepen as civilizations get better and better able
- [Zoom Event](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/zoom-event/) - Sign Up Form We would love to hear from you! Do you have an article you would like to submit? Would you like to become involved in sharing the mission of RSF and the vision of Henry George? Would you like to partner with us to raise awareness on the philosophies and teachings of Henry
- [Land Use and Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/land-use-and-housing/) - Land Use and Housing Articles: Speculation and Reuse Squandered Opportunity: The Social Cost of Underutilized Land In our previous article describing speculation on vacant urban land, we pointed out that the attention paid to vacant housing often overlooks another type of pernicious vacancy: housing units that aren’t even built in the first place. Sometimes this looks like
- [Resource Justice](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/resourcejustice/) - Resource Justice is RSF’s research initiative, where we foster research into the sustainable, efficient and equitable use of natural resources in the US and abroad. Our goal is that the rich bounty provided by the natural world be shared equitably among all members of the human community, ensuring that social progress is both inclusive and
- [Key Issues](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/key-issues/) - Our Key Issues Resource Rents and Value Capture The gifts of nature are our most precious resource, so it is vital that we know where natural resources rents are flowing. At RSF, we are interested in measuring these resource rents and finding ways to efficiently capture them, so that the fruits of nature may be
- [Research Briefs on Land Value Tax](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/research-briefs/) - Research Briefs on Land Value Tax At Resource Justice, we help inform people about how land value tax (LVT) can confront crucial social problems like rising rents, speculative property cycles and widening wealth inequality. In these conversations, we encounter common concerns such as “won’t landlords just respond to LVT by raising the rent?” and “can
- [Program Areas](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/program-areas/) - Our Programs Learn about the Engel Georgist Library, our collection of archived Georgist publications and research materials, and information on visiting the Francoise Rosen Reading Room. Learn About the Engel Georgist Library RSF will be offering scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of disciplines beginning in the Fall of 2022. Learn more
- [RSF Libguide: Georgist Works and Research Resources](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/rsf-libguide-georgist-works-and-research-resources/) - The Works of Henry George and Notable Georgist Scholars Use the buttons below to jump directly to sections on this page containing the specific types of content outlined below. You can return to this navigation menu using the “Return to Top” button and links throughout this page to make your searching and browsing easier and
- [Works By Other Authors](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/works-by-other-authors/) - Works by Other Authors Henry George by Charles Albro BarkerThis book is not only the definitive biography of one of America’s most exciting social thinkers and crusaders for reform, it is also an intellectual and emo tional history which vividly re-creates the atmosphere of mid to late nineteenth-century America. PDFeBookHTML New Life in Old Citiesby
- [Sponsored Research Archive](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/sponsored-research-archive/) - Sponsored Research Archive Archive Overview This page contains an archive of the research, presentations, and other scholarly and academic material produced by past recipients of our Sponsored Research grants. You can scroll down to browse the archive, or use the menu to view more details about grantees for a particular year and jump directly to
- [The Standard](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/standard/) - The Standard Digital Archive: The Standard Henry George published The Standard, a weekly newspaper that chronicled news and events from a Georgist perspective in New York City between 1887 and 1892. The Standard: An Overview Volume 1 (January 1887 to June 1887) Volume 2 (July 1887 to December 1887) Volume 3 (January 1888 to June

## Landing Pages

- [Elementor Landing Page #62881](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/elementor-landing-page-62881/) - Research Briefs on Land Value Tax At Resource Justice, we help inform people about how land value tax (LVT) can confront crucial social problems like rising rents, speculative property cycles and widening wealth inequality. In these conversations, we encounter common concerns such as “won’t landlords just respond to LVT by raising the rent?” and “can

## Draw Attention

- [US Map](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/?da_image=66702)
- [Puerto Rico](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/?da_image=puerto-rico)

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/uncategorized/)
- [*Climate Change](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/climate-change/)
- [*Economic Rent Capture](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/economic-rent/)
- [Education](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/education/)
- [*Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/housing/)
- [*Taxation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/tax/)
- [*Universal Basic Income](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/universal-basic-income/)
- [Sponsored Research](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/sponsored-research/)
- [*Land Use](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/land-use/)
- [*External Contributors](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/external-contributors/)
- [*Blog Interviews](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/blog-interviews/)
- [*Centennial](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/category/centennial/)

## Tags

- [covid 19](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/covid-19/)
- [economic recovery](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/economic-recovery/)
- [Land Use](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/land-use/)
- [NewsLetter-1](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/newsletter-1/)
- [pandemic](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/pandemic/)
- [Zoning](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/zoning/)
- [land value tax](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/land-value-tax/)
- [housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/housing/)
- [Resource Rents and Value Capture](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/resource-rents-and-value-capture/) - Subcategory for Resource Justice articles and content.
- [Land Value Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/land-value-taxes/) - Subcategory for Resource Justice articles and content.
- [Land Use and Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/land-use-and-housing/) - Subcategory for Resource Justice articles and content.
- [Environment and Climate Change](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/environment-and-climate-change/) - Subcategory for Resource Justice articles and content.
- [Property Taxes](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/property-taxes/) - Subcategory for Resource Justice articles and content.
- [Speculation and Reuse](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/speculation-and-reuse/)
- [Financialization of Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/financialization-of-housing/)
- [Web3 Technologies](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/web3-technologies/)
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- [Displacement](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/displacement/)
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- [Tariffs](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/tariffs/)
- [Mortgages](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/mortgages/)
- [Home ownership](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/home-ownership/)
- [Affordable Housing](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/affordable-housing/)
- [Colombia](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/colombia/)
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- [Real Estate](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/real-estate/)
- [Economic Rent](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/economic-rent/)
- [Sprawl](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/sprawl/)
- [Land Value Taxation and Use](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/land-value-taxation-and-use/)
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- [Free Trade](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/free-trade/)
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- [Taxation](https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/tag/taxation/)