Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing - by Josh Ryan-Collins & Toby Lloyd & Laurie MacFarlane (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Why are house prices in many advanced economies rising faster than incomes? Why isn't land and location taught or seen as important in modern economics? What is the relationship between the financial system and land?

In this accessible but provocative guide to the economics of land and housing, the authors reveal how many of the key challenges facing modern economies - including housing crises, financial instability and growing inequalities - are intimately tied to the land economy. Looking at the ways in which discussions of land have been routinely excluded from both housing policy and economic theory, the authors show that in order to tackle these increasingly pressing issues a major rethink by both politicians and economists is required.

Review Quotes

"A very welcome analysis.'" --Greenhouse think tank

"This is an admirable book. It provides a powerful critique of the UK's failed policies towards land and housing and it sets out an ambitious but credible set of alternatives which merit serious debate.'" --LSE Review of Books

"The book that did the most to alter my perception of the world." --Bloomberg - Must-reads of 2017

"A lucid exposition of the dysfunctional British housing market." --Financial Times - Best Books of 2017

"Extremely useful" --Institute of Place Management - Best Books of 2017

"The most important book I read this year." --Times Higher Education - Best Books of 2017

"Housing and land play a central role in modern economies, but most mainstream economic theory simply ignores land's special character - with grave consequences for its ability to explain the real world. By contrast, this important book analyses the subject with excellent clarity. Read it and you will understand the crucial underlying drivers of rising debt, increasing inequality and financial crises." --Adair Turner, chairman of the Institute of New Economic Thinking

"A lucid and convincing explanation of why a free-market approach to the land problem makes little sense; why the state needs to intervene; and of the wide range of policy options available. Economics is evolving and this crucial book is a key part of its transformation." --Danny Dorling, author of All That Is Solid: How the Great Housing Disaster Defines Our Times, and What We Can Do About It

"Land policy is the missing issue in any discussion on planning, development and the property market. This book is therefore long overdue. It returns land to its central role in both economic theory and in built environment discourses." --Duncan Bowie, author of Radical Solutions to the Housing Supply Crisis

"This book takes a fresh and comprehensive look at the problems created by a failure to consider the role of land in the economy of the UK. It proposes a wide range of solutions which policymakers should consider." --Kate Barker, author of the Barker Review of UK Housing Supply

"This excellent book on the economic role of land is both thorough and comprehensive. I am convinced that it will quickly become an important reference for the general public and for economists, and hopefully also for policymakers." --Michael Kumhof, senior research advisor, Bank of England

"A comprehensive survey of the role of land in the economy and its neglect in economics, as well as a profile of how ownership of this essential requirement for life has become unattainable for the majority of young Britons, thanks to the march of finance and the compliance of Parliament." --Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics