Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing - Hardcover

Ryan-Collins, Josh; Lloyd, Toby; Macfarlane, Laurie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1786991195 ISBN 13: 9781786991195

Publisher: Zed Books, 2017

Synopsis

Why are house prices in many advanced economies rising faster than incomes? What is the relationship between the financial system and the price of 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, Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing argues that in order to tackle these increasingly pressing issues a major re-thinking by both politicians and economists is required. This is the first comprehensive guide to the role of land in the economy, making this an essential reference for students, scholars, policymakers, activists, and NGOs working on land issues.
 

About this title

About the Author

Josh Ryan-Collins is senior economist at the New Economics Foundation, as well as a visiting research fellow at the University of Southampton Business School. TobyLloyd is head of housing development at Shelter, a charity that campaigns to end homelessness in the UK. LaurieMacfarlane is an economist at the New Economics Foundation.
 

Review

“A calm, clear, seemingly fair review of the role of land in economic theory and economic reality, and how skyrocketing land values have in recent decades come to shape and perhaps misshape the global economy. At the end, when the authors get to recommendations, you may be taken aback by some of the things they have in mind. But that's all the more reason to read the book. . . . [I]t is the book that did the most to alter my perception of the world.” (Must-Reads of 2017 Bloomberg)

“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. But it also offers a critique of the inadequate treatment of land and housing by mainstream economics that can travel far beyond the UK.” (LSE Review of Books)

“A lucid exposition of the dysfunctional British housing market.” (Best Books of 2017 Financial Times)

“The most important book I read this year.” (Best Books of 2017 Times Higher Education)

“A very welcome analysis.” (Green House Think Tank)

“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)

“Analyzes 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)

“This excellent book 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.” (Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics)

“Lucid and convincing . . . 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)

Edition details

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1786991195
• ISBN 13: 9781786991195
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 280