A distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars examines the merits and shortcomings of Land-Value taxation, and how it compares and contrasts with the conventional property tax. The latter is shown as deterring enterprise to the detriment of employment and as pushing up the cost of improving property with inflationary consequences. The former, with evidence from places where it is already in use, is shown to encourage optimum land use, foster employment, and prevent urban sprawl.

This collection of twenty essays (eighteen of which are original) examines the merits and shortcomings of land-value taxation, which has a benign economic influence, and how it compares and contrasts with the conventional property tax. The latter is shown as deterring enterprise to the detriment of employment and as pushing up the cost of improving property with inflationary consequences. The former, with evidence from places where it is already in use, is shown to encourage optimum land use, foster employment, and prevent urban sprawl. One of the other benefits of land-value taxation is that it is not a tax that can be avoided or circumvented, helping to reduce the cost of tax collection and enforcement.

Contributions by a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars include four previously unpublished essays by the late Professor William S. Vickrey, the 1996 Nobel laureate in economics.