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Self-taught economist Henry George was the most famous proponent of a tax on the site value of land. The 19th-century author and politician, best known for his 1879 book, Progress and Poverty, advocated abolishing all other taxes except a single tax on unimproved land.  AIER has long held that, of all taxes, George’s proposition would best foster economic progress. Recently William S. Peirce, pictured at left, spoke to students at AIER’s 53rd Summer Fellowship Program about the attempt to establish a single tax in Ohio. Peirce, current AIER trustee, was an AIER fellow at the institute in the early 1960s. In 2002, he was named professor emeritus of economics at Case Western Reserve University, where he had taught for more than 35 years. Widely published, his most recent article, which is on Henry George, appeared earlier this year in the International Journal of Social Economics. Peirce’s talk—Who Killed Land Value Taxation in Ohio? Will the Killer Strike Again Elsewhere?—was one of several presentations by distinguished guest speakers at this year’s Summer Fellowship Program. He chatted with Walker Todd, director of the program, shortly after his talk. Click here to Listen to William Peirce's interview (11 minutes).
About the Summer Fellowship Program
AIER’s Summer Fellowship Program is designed for graduating college seniors who plan to enter doctoral programs in economics or affiliated fields, and those enrolled in such programs for no longer than two years. Admission is awarded based on academic achievement, interest in current economic problems, plans for future study, and potential for success. We are particularly interested in students who aspire to teaching or other careers where they will have an impact on popular economic understanding.
During their four weeks in residence, student fellows participate in intensive seminars on property rights, scientific procedures of inquiry, sound money, and other topics. Assigned readings in these areas provide the basis for written assignments and seminar discussions. Seminar sessions are not conducted as formal lectures, but rather are structured to encourage a disciplined exchange of views.
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fundamentally Land which is earth and all its raw materials is God given therefore its value belongs to all people.
The apportioned value of land would provide a basic income for all leaving the rewards for finding and developing uses for the land as reward for ingenuity and labor.
This would be a valid way to narrow the spread between "poor" and "wealthy" which creates the stress on the world.
The 475 wars in history were caused by .......LAND!
Assessing land value well is rather easy, particularly where there are teardown. It is more difficult to assess buildings, which have far more variables. Land value is a function of location-location-location, and relates to the services each site receives from its community due to favorable or unfavorable locations. (And, by the way, in agricultural areas, the unimproved value of the land relates to its natural advantages of location, fertility and the like, and the advantages of infrastructure such as rail and highways; improvements such as clearing, fencing, drainage, irrigation and fertilization should be treated just as buildings are.)