two Dutch canal houses with their signature gable facades

Protected: Earth Pact: the Future of the Dutch Ground Lease System

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Part 3: The future of land lease Last year, a devastating report on municipal ground lease in Amsterdam was published. In the third part of this series, we will discuss the future of ground lease. Are the original goals still important and…

A Radical Vision of Equality: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s economic plan to eliminate poverty

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by Matthew Downhour 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.…

The Dutch Ground Lease System from a Georgist Perspective

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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.

LVT on the Ballot in New Zealand

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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.

A Report from Denver: The 2022 NCSL

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Your faithful correspondent returned from the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures, held August 1-3, 2022. Since our mission is to present politically neutral and “just the facts, ma’am” research, it’s a blessing to meet and break bread with a political, national, and otherwise diverse audience. We like to build relationships with people on both sides of the aisle because they see that the land value tax serves the communitarian and free market philosophies.

Mass MoCA: When Does Public Investment Pay Off?

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North Adams is one of of dozens of similar towns spread across New England, and similar to small Pennsylvania manufacturing towns centered on steel, coal, and railroads. However, cities like North Adams, Lowell, Pawtucket, and others also produced a broader range of goods which supplied the world with textiles, clocks, brass, firearms, and 20th-century electronic components.  What happened in New England factory towns also happened in Pennsylvania towns and in other rustbelt towns. It's an old story: factory closures or relocation combined with changes in global trading patterns. The result? Subsequent impoverishment and depopulation of communities.