Land is a Big Deal

Lars Doucet gives a detailed but accessible overview of the ideas and claims of the unjustly neglected political economist, Henry George. George argued that the fundamental cause of poverty was the accumulation of private land rent, and argued that the way to create a just and prosperous society was to tax only land and not labor or capital. Lars then turns to the data to look at how Georgism's claims work out empirically and address some common objections. First, in an advanced economy, does land even matter anymore? Turns out, yes- it's more important than ever (the increasingly furious dispute over housing availability is a good indicator). The role of land in the economy is hard to see sometimes, but it is the foundation- literally- for every other economic interaction; thus the title of the book. Second, can a land value tax like George proposed just be passed on by the landlord and end up getting paid by tenants instead? Nope; a land value tax doesn't affect the supply or the demand of land, so it can't change the price. Landlords already charge as much as they can get away with; if they try to charge more, tenants will just move. Finally, can land value even be accurately known and assessed? Yes, and actually it is already valued all the time by people like fire insurance assessors, who have to know what a plot will be worth if the building on it burns down. Lars is confident enough in this that he's started a company that uses machine learning to sell land valuation tools to assessors, so he's definitely put his money where his mouth is.All in all, Land is a Big Deal is a great book and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in Georgism or economics generally.

Good introduction to Georgism in more modern language.

Lars A Doucet's "LAND IS A BIG DEAL" is a 'must read' for those wanting to understand why world economies are on their last legs. Real estate guru and reinstalled President, Donald Trump--"Trump: The Art of the Deal"--needs urgently to take a peep at this particular 'deal' if he is to make America great again. He'll find a skillful and at times humorous exposition of the path we need to take for socio-economic resurrection. Donald? Donald, are you there?

I had been vaguely familiar with Georgism before but this book laid out Henry George’s arguments with great elegance and clarity, and thoroughly contextualized the ideas in a modern setting. Read this book with an open mind. It will challenge your assumptions about how land ownership ought to work, but Doucet makes a convincing case why our current system of land ownership is misguided and unsustainable, and why we need to use land value taxes to address our land use problems.This book inspired me to read Progress and Poverty which I highly recommend as well.

Really great work on LVT.

Lars Doucet has made an admirable effort to popularize the ideas of 19th century economist Henry George.A rough representation of his thesis might be that land should be taxed because: (1) land is easy to assess, (2) taxing land doesn’t diminish the quantity of land, (3) land is a limited resource that is broadly desired, (4) land is necessary for labor and capital to produce wealth, and (5) no one created land and thus, no one should fully own it.Lars shines when he challenges his own ideas with counterpoints, and he is also surprisingly contactable for questions.My quipples with "Land is a Big Deal" is with overreaching statements and I'll offer three examples:(1) Lars poses a total US land value that exceeds estimates from government entities as well as conservative and liberal economists. I think his argument would be stronger if he accepted a more widely recognized land value.(2) I think Lars is stretching the definition of the word “monopoly” when he implies that anyone who sells land is doing so as the sole owner of a unique item and thus, has a monopoly (if I understand him correctly).(3) I disagree with Lars' repeated statement that all wars are fought, in some way, over land. I think it would be more accurate to state that while wars typically involve land, they are somethings fought over ideology or arise from complex alliances, or involve cold economic battles involving tariffs and intellectual property theft. To my mind, his war argument is an unnecessary distraction from his central thesis.Ultimately, it would be fantastic if taxpayers grappled with the ideas presented in "Land is a Big Deal," and Lars reads his book in an entertaining fashion on Audible. My friends and I spent five hours discussing the ideas within this book, and found many worthy insights and clever ideas. Ultimately, we would like to see a land value tax tried in a state or large city.

Lars Doucet's "Land is a Big Deal" is an incredibly persuasive and enlightening read that will change the way you think about land and its role in society. Doucet concretely lays out why you might want to think "land, labor, and capital" is a better way of making sense of our economy than just "labor and capital."The book is well-researched and well-written, and Doucet backs up his arguments with a wealth of data and evidence. Doucet's writing is clear, concise, and persuasive (well, at least I was persuaded!).I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in economics, social justice, and public policy.

This book needs to become popular. It is essential that the Land Value Tax become the primary driver in tax reform in the United States if we are to tweak incentives to bring together the wealth gap, use land efficiency, lower rent prices, and ensure the Earth's resources are used environmentally efficiently.

I liked that the book was very informative about a wide range of land value tax and Georgist topics and that I could put it down and pick it up with with ease. Concise explanations combined with easy to understand visuals mean it works as a reference tool. Great graphs and charts.