fabulous wealth for all

The top story is the still the Pakistan earthquake. I've covered the obvious benefits of land rent within a nation, now let's do some blue skies thinking: what if we had land rent BETWEEN nations? I know that nobody would accept it - theft and corruption are the basis of our societies - but let's imagine...

Imagine if each nation had to pay rent to everyone else for the land they occupied. Land would be charged at the market rate, so unproductive land would be very cheap. And since everyone is paying and receiving, the net cost would be zero. But efficient nations would find the cost easy to pay, and inefficient nations would find the cost too much. When people cannot pay rent, their land is sold on the market. Imagine if this infinitely sensible policy was applied to nations. Efficient nations would take over the land used by inefficient nations. Every nation on earth would be run at optimum efficiency, creating wealth for itself, and even more wealth for tis neighbors through trade. The whole world would have undreamed of wealth. And one of the infinite benefits would be that Pakistanis would have the latest technology to predict earthquakes, earthquake proof homes, and money to get out when the early earnings arrive.

Sure, it's blue skies thinking, but lets be clear: opposition to land rent costs the world trillions of dollars and untold misery. A few hundred thousand unnecessary earthquake deaths are just the tip of the iceberg.

Fabulous wealth for everyone in the world: another (long term) benefit of land rent.