Description
Using the United Kingdom as a case study, this well-researched account shows how, for more than 200 years, a remarkably regular 18-year cycle of boom and bust can be traced to the peaks and troughs in land prices. This exploration reveals how governments, during the upswing of the cycle, are complicit in encouraging a belief that property prices will continue upwards indefinitely because of their skilled management of the economy and attributes the current crises to public policy on both sides of the Atlantic. An alternative plan to neutralize the next boom—one that would lead to a more stable and environmentally friendly economy with a more equitable distribution of wealth—is also presented.
About the Author
Fred Harrison is the research director of the Land Research Trust in London. He is the author of Ricardo’s Law: House Prices & the Great Tax Clawback Scam and Wheels of Fortune: Self-Funding Infrastructure and the Free Market Case for a Land Tax.
Praise For…
"Does Harrison really know something we don’t?" —The Mail on Sunday
"There are some fascinating insights into cycles, property and rents." —Economic Affairs
"Harrison's book is a formidable challenge to the apologists of the status quo." —American Journal of Economics and Sociology
"Fascinating insights into cycles, property and rents." —Institute of Economic Affairs
"[Harrison] does make a case for the existence of an 18-year business cycle, which he links to speculation in the property market." —Financial Times
"For anyone seeking to understand the vagaries of the housing market, this is a fascinating read." —Sunday Telegraph
"The essence of its argument is that the majority of current property prices reflect land value rather than building costs." —Professional Investor
"There are some fascinating insights into cycles, property and rents." —John Calverley, chief economist, American Express Bank