Georgism

Georgism is a political-economic philosophy that treats land rent as socially created and advocates taxing unimproved land value, often instead of other taxes.

Land value tax: A tax on the value of land, excluding buildings and other improvements. It is Georgism’s signature instrument for collecting land rent.
Henry George: An American political economist and reformer who argued for taxing land values in Progress and Poverty. His writing gave the philosophy its name and its best-known case.
Property tax: A tax on real estate that commonly includes both land and buildings. Unlike Georgism’s preferred tax, conventional property taxes can penalize construction and improvements.
Pittsburgh: A Pennsylvania city that used a split-rate property tax, taxing land more heavily than buildings. Its policy is a prominent real-world example associated with Georgist tax reform.
Land speculation: Buying or holding land in expectation of future price increases rather than primarily for productive use. Taxing land value can make holding valuable sites idle less profitable.
Economic rent: Income received from control of a scarce resource beyond what is needed to bring it into use. Georgism treats land rent as an unearned return created largely by society.
Progress and Poverty: Henry George’s 1879 book examining why poverty persists amid economic and technological progress. It presents the argument that rising land rents capture gains produced by social development.
Income tax: A tax on income received by individuals or entities over a specified period. Georgists often favor land-value taxation as a replacement for taxes on earned income.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The capital of Pennsylvania, known for adopting a split-rate property tax that favored building improvements. Its experience is often cited in discussions of land-value taxation and urban redevelopment.
Housing affordability: The relationship between housing costs and the resources households can spend on housing. Georgists argue that shifting taxes off buildings can encourage construction and ease supply constraints.

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