source

Does Georgism Work? Part 1: Is Land Really A Big Deal?

2021

Article

Source link

Using conservative estimates, LVT could raise enough funding to cover the entirety of either Defense spending, Social Security, or Medicare + Medicaid (roughly $1.1 trillion per year). More optimistic estimates suggest LVT revenues could reach $3.36 trillion per year, nearly enough to cover the entire federal budget. Pairing a national LVT with a UBI funded by the revenue would provide a net gain to two-adult households with property values at $500,000 or less. When Henry George advocated LVT as a single tax to replace all other taxation (the 1800's), there was no federal income tax, and state and federal spending were significantly lower. Liberal and conservative economists alike - such as Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman - agree that LVT has no deadweight loss, making it an ideal tax in terms of efficiency. Or in Friedman's terms, the "least bad tax". Between 2005-2010, New York City's urban land value was worth roughly $2.5 trillion (just the land alone). In 2019, a national LVT is estimated to raise anywhere from 25% ($1.1 trillion) - 76% ($3.36 trillion) of annual federal spending, depending on methodologies used to produce estimates.
Lars Doucet
Land Value Tax
Loading...