Mason Gaffney indicates that I have overlooked the extensive literature on land value taxation. Not at all. I am quite familiar with this literature including many of the sources mentioned.

My preference is that the community should collect all or virtually all of the ground rent and eliminate as much as possible the taxation of labor or labor products. I do not consider the collection of ground rent as taxation but rather a return to the community of that value created by the community.

The taxation of land values along with the taxation of just about everything that can be taxed is commonplace in jurisdictions throughout the world. There is not much evidence that there has been a deterrence to land speculation until there is a "bust" when the price of land reaches a level which distorts the whole system as can be witnessed by the recent housing bubble.

Roy Davidson