Land and Taxation, 2nd Edition

Economists know that the optimum conditions for private enterprise are achieved when taxes on the earned incomes of labour and capital are reduced to zero but, because neoclassical economic theory insists on treating land as capital, they dismiss the obvious alternative to taxing labour and capital – the unearned income from land.

Prof. Mason Gaffney explains the importance of recognising land as a distinctive factor of production and the consequences of its uniqueness for economic policy, for example, that income from land is subject to market forces quite different from those that determine return on capital. Prof. Tideman brings together the classical literature on land taxation to explain the argument that such taxation is an economically efficient and ethical revenue source.

The authors argue that reform of the structure of public finance would make it possible to restore full employment without causing inflation and to reduce the overall tax burden.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Nicolaus Tideman (PhD) He was Assistant Professor of Economics at Harvard University and then Senior Staff Economist at the President’s Council of Econmic Advisors (1970-71), before moving to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, as Professor of Economics.

Mason Gaffney (PhD). He was Professor of Economics, University of California, Riverside (1976-2013). He is the author of an extensive list of studies and books.

Fred Harrison read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford, and received his MSc from the University of London. He is an author and the Director at the Land Research Trust.

Fred Foldvary, (PhD from George Mason University) He has taught Economics in Latvia and the United States, and an author.

V. H. Blundell was Principal of the ESSRA School of Economic Studies in London for 25 years. He was Editor of Land and Liberty and is author of False Paths to Higher Wages (1975).