why land rent will save the world

my story, and how I will make everyone rich

tl;dr: vote for land rent instead of tax.

Hi. My name is Chris Tolworthy.
I want the world to be a better place. I think you do too.

So I did a lot of thinking.

I noticed that most of the world's problems involved property, yet nobody had worked out what property was, at least not logically. So my first step was to work out what property is, in a logical way.

I then worked out how an ideal society should work, in an abstract sense, regardless of political beliefs. But it was a bit complicated, and I didn't know how to make it happen.

Then a friend introduced me to land rent, and suddenly everything fell into place!

	Land rent is the rental value of bare land (not the buildings etc.): A rational government would charge land rent instead of tax.
	Land rent is the only economic system that's based on logic. So land rent changes everything. To start with, let's see how it changes the tax system.
	In most countries, income tax plus sales tax plus all the other taxes come to around 40% of income. So if you need $100, you have to earn $167 just to pay the tax (because 167 -40% = 100). This means no work can be done unless it makes an instant 67% profit. If you earn very little you pay slightly less tax (but you still pay sales tax etc.), but for most kinds of work, tax is unavoidable.
	Now imagine you paid the same amount as last year, but this year it was a fixed land rent. (When most people have land rent, buying and selling will naturally adjust rental values to their market rates.) All the previous work would still be done, at the same prices (so you could pay the same amount as before to the government), but any extra work is completely tax free. So all the "less than 67% profit" work would suddenly become profitable.
	Even if only ten percent of jobs fell into the "less than 67% profit" category, that new extra work would be enough to end unemployment forever. Also, you waste less time on paperwork, there is no tax avoidance (you can't hide land), and all those tax accountants are free to do productive work instead. So say goodbye to unemployment and hello to cheaper goods and services.

	With land rent, there are no hidden taxes: you know exactly what each government costs each person.
	So voting will have a clear price, just like buying any other product or service.
	Price competition will become intense. This allows blocks of voters to make deals. Voting blocks become more powerful than governments.
	As the system matures, voting blocks will become expert at creating towns and villages tailored to their needs.
	In effect, everyone will be able to choose the government they want. Or set up a new one, just you would set up any business.
	When everyone can choose their own ideal community we will all live among like minded people and be happier. Crime becomes impossible: everyone trusts the authorities and welcomes surveillance. If trust is abused, you simply choose a different government. Or make your own.

Land rent provides money and better government, but can it be exported?

The old way of changing the world was to invade a country and force people to do things against their will.

This seldom ends well.

In contrast, land rent is just business.

Most countries will adopt it simply because they want money.

What about failed states and dictatorships?

Just make a deal with the existing leaders, using their existing system. Run a town properly and split the profits with them.

Start small, then let it expand.

What about mad dictators who won't do a deal? If the country is poor enough then the potential for improvement (and thus, profit) is huge.

In a rapidly expanding economy there is enough room for everyone.

If one dictator is insane, you can make deals with the people around him. If there is money to be made, people will find a way.

	But does land rent fix the environment?
	If you pollute the land, or turn land into a desert, you reduce its value to society. Land rent constantly measures the annual value of all bare land, and so allows polluters to be charged for every year until they repair the damage.
	Land rent also measures the effect of parkland on surrounding land values, so beauty can be rewarded. Land rent societies need to attract more people, so those who make land less attractive WILL be punished, and those who make land more attractive WILL be rewarded.
	As land rent societies expand, more land value data will become available, making it possible to calculate the real cost of long term pollution. If the costs are ignored, then land becomes less attractive and states lose income. So they will not be ignored.

So how do we change to land rent? It's easy. Get a tax free card.

If a government wants votes, it should issue a tax free card.

Anyone who wants to can have their total tax calculated for last year, and this year have that amount charged as rent on their land instead.

They are then free to do the same as last year, but any extra work is tax free.

As noted above, people who choose land rent make more money.

So gradually more and more people will choose land rent.

Businesses will come from overseas for the same reason.

Big land owners will be the last to join, but even they will profit from land rent. This is why:

Under tax, a good economy expands by 3% per year (after inflation). So does the tax burden.

Under land rent, wealth increases by 5% or more, but the price of land rent only increases by 3% or less (because government costs are reduced by ending unemployment).

graph of land rent profit

Compound growth means land values rise much faster than land rent costs. After a few years, land owners will want to enter the land rent system because it means their land will double in value, which more than pays for any land rent costs.

This spreadsheet shows how a 5% increase in value (instead of 3%) will pay for the entire value of the land after 36 years, even allowing for that land increasing in value as it did under a tax system, and even if all that value was taken as land rent. A 7% increase will do it in 19 years.

In reality, land rent will only a be a fraction of that (at first just the same as land owners paid in tax), and most people have other sources of income beside just land, so land rent will make a profit long before this.

	How soon will this happen? That's up to you. Working alone, I think it will take me another ten years to get the message onto the political agenda. The rest will happen naturally. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to save the world and make everyone rich.

examples and proof
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Photo credits: Logic, jigsaws and woman: Stock Photos copyright 123RF. Character photos are me (Chris Tolworthy). Other images from Wikimedia: Creative Commons non profit sharealike, details to follow.