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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32854 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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The recent Georgist uprising in the rat-sphere seems to be spreading outward, and gathering steam if anything. Lars Doucet, who wrote the original ACX post that blew up, is now releasing a book called Land is a Big Deal which summarizes his writings thus far.

There was also a major takedown of Detroit land assessment practices by a major land parcel data collector, ReGrid that dropped a few days ago. Major takeaways:

  • Property tax assessment is widely variable - some houses have *double* the tax burden of identical houses literally across the street.
  • Landowners tend to have far better valuations (i.e. pay less taxes) than homeowners, probably because they have more time/incentive to protest valuations.
  • Poor taxing and tax foreclosure in Detroit are likely a large part of why the city has fallen on such hard times in recent years.

In addition, some fairly mainstream political candidates such as Chloe Brown who's running for Mayor of Toronto, seem to be gaining steam. Land value tax is a large plank in her platform.

I got interested in land reform through the original series of ACX posts, and frankly I'm surprised how interesting the problem is and how overall neglected the topic seems to be. Even extremely intelligent and well read folks I talk to about it are surprised when they learn that land value is usually just pulled out of thin air - the industry standard is to just take 25% of the purchase price and not give a shit about location or any other factors, which seems bizarre upon a critical review.

I've seen some discussion about Georgism/LVT here, but curious if anyone else has been following this?

Also, what are the arguments against LVT, besides low-effort "taxes are always bad and raising them is evil?" Genuinely curious for well thought out reasons why an LVT would be a bad idea.

Edit: For those new to this idea, a Land Value Tax in it's most basic form simply says we should tax away the value of the land, and only let people who sell land profit off of the 'improvements' they make, such as buildings, restorations, etc. For instance if you bought a piece of land and tried to sell it 1 year later off pure speculation, doing nothing to the land, you would not receive any profit.

Also, what are the arguments against LVT, besides low-effort "taxes are always bad and raising them is evil?"

Still low-effort is "it's communism, but only with land". But given how bad communism has turned out, I think it's sufficient. The Georgist LVT is equivalent to the government owning all the land and leasing it out to the highest bidder.

I haven't heard this take either, definitely interesting.

I agree that's essentially what would happen, but I don't follow how it's communist. Yes it would mean the government captured more value from land, but do you think the land market is 'fair' right now?

To use another example, the government effectively owns the internet, which lead to a golden age of tech. It's a classic example of a commons which I know some hardcore libertarians are against, but to me it makes sense that land speculation is classic rent seeking. You're essentially getting something for nothing, sucking value out of the economy without putting anything back in.

I agree that's essentially what would happen, but I don't follow how it's communist.

Because it's government ownership of the means of production (though only the "land" part)

To use another example, the government effectively owns the internet

Not for a long time now.

So it seems like you're arguing on the basis that if the government owns something or collects value, that's inherently bad. You don't seem to be arguing against the idea of an LVT, more generally against taxation / government control. Do I follow you correctly?

I'm arguing that the government owning all the land is bad, and that the Georgist LVT is equivalent to the government owning the land.

Are you familiar with the legal distinction between "Allodial Title" and "Fee Simple" ownership?

Yes, but it's not particularly relevant. In the Georgist case, the putative landowner does not have "Fee Simple" ownership; he essentially has a leasehold interest.

Right, but without an Allodial title, the 'ownership' of the land isn't truly vested in the current holder, as the title will be traced back to some governmental entity or other bestowing it on some person if you go far enough back.

And the land will revert back to that entity should it ever be fully abandoned.

This assumption of governmental ownership still underlies the current system.

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