Land

In "Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World, " Martin Adams takes on the conventional view that treats land ownership as a basis for wealth production. Acknowledging the difficulties of overturning our prevailing economic models, Adams challenges the reader to think of new ways to understand our r [...]
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In "Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World, " Martin Adams takes on the conventional view that treats land ownership as a basis for wealth production. Acknowledging the difficulties of overturning our prevailing economic models, Adams challenges the reader to think of new ways to understand our relationship to the limited resources of our earth, and proposes a shift away from land ownership to land stewardship. Marshaling carefully conceived economic analysis on monopoly, profit, wealth concentration, and taxation, the author advances an idea he calls "land use contributions"--entailing meaningful policy change that enables the value of land to be shared by communities, both urban and rural. Martin offers a vision for bringing about humanitarian policy changes through individual awareness, education, and legislative advocacy.
Broadly speaking, there are only two ways human beings can make an income: They can either make an income by contributing to society, or they can extract an income "from" society. When people make money from land and other gifts of nature, they extract resources from society and consequently leave less resources behind for people who "add" value to society. However, when people rent land from their local communities, they pay a market value for the benefits they receive from their own communities.
There are very few books on the market that go into great detail about how our present tendency to profit from land causes wealth inequality, poverty, economic depressions, social decline and environmental destruction. The vast majority of those books that do tie land profiteering to those effects have either been written by economists in a technical language inaccessible to the general population, or in language too vague to be easily understood by the uninitiated.
The writing in" Land, " however, is surprisingly accessible. Aimed at readers interested in safeguarding the environment and living in a more beautiful and sustainable world, the book explores the hidden causes of social issues with logical reasoning and contagious passion. The second part explores an economic solution so radical yet so easily understandable that the reader cannot help but be transformed.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I: The Cost of Ignorance
1. The Production of Wealth 7
2. The Value of Location 10
3. The Free Market 13
4. Social Decline
5. Business Recessions
6. Ecocide
7. Earth, Our Home
8. Deja Vu, Again
Part II: A Humanitarian Perspective
9. Restoring Communities
10. Keep What You Earn, Pay for What You Use
11. Local Autonomy
12. Affordable Housing
13. Thriving Cities
14. Sustainable Farming
15. The Price of Peace
16. Lasting Prosperity
17. A New Paradigm
Epilogue: A Personal Note
Acknowledgments
Appendix: The Math Behind the Science
References & Suggestions for Further Reading
Endnotes