The many wasteful policies and procedures in federal water resources programs have been much analyzed by economists and other scholars. Agency benefit-cost practices have been found wanting. Benefit estimates have been biased upward and cost estimates downward. Environmental effects of projects, often adverse, are not weighted enough. I generally endorse the thrust of these . . . → Read More: The Water Giveaway: A Critique of Federal Water Policy
 Comments are closed  Publication  Land Economics - Water, Land economics -- Environment, Law, Leasing policy, Natural Resources, Politics, Water I have four points: we do not need property tax relief; we do need assessment reform; we do need to shift the property tax in part to the stale level; and we do need to convert the general property tax into a tax on site vaiue. “An Agenda for Strengthening the Property Tax.” In . . . → Read More: An Agenda for Strengthening the Property Tax Comments are closed Publication Land economics -- urban, Property taxation, Public finance, Tax policy, tax reform Taxes on land and buildings are important influences on land use, and are within the control of government. Real estate taxes are a major source of revenue to local governments (LGs) in the United States, as well as being a major cost of owning property. Currently under legal attack in the United States is . . . → Read More: Tax Reform to Release Land MANY, IF NOT ALL economists now agree that the fisc may tax away rent without impairing any economic function. It is only necessary that the tax be independent of landowner behavior. What is less widely understood is that not taxing rent obstructs its proper functioning. Untaxed landowners through the centuries have manifested a propensity . . . → Read More: Taxation and the Functions of Urban Land Rent Comments are closed Publication Capital theory, Land economics -- urban, Land Rent, Politics, Property taxation, Tax policy, urban development |