Market-hampering Land Speculation: Fiscal and Monetary Origins and Remedies

Market-hampering land speculation destabilizes and distorts development, and shifts income unjustly to landowners. Its fiscal origin is the lack of public collection of the site rent. The monetary origin is a centrally controlled money supply that injects excessive credit, fueling malinvestments in real estate. The remedies are both the public collection of land rent and a free market in money and banking, hence a money supply that responds flexibly to market demand while maintaining a stable unit of account. Rent collection option contracts could increase the scope of market-enhancing land speculation that spreads and reduces risk.