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Comment by TimPC

Total Federal US Tax Revenues in 2021: $4.05 trillion Total US Mortgages in 2021: $17.1 trillion

Once you add the taxes for other jurisdictions of government I can see taxes reaching 30% of total mortgage value. It's fairly clear to me that owning land is extremely expensive in a Georgist society that needs to generate the levels of taxation that fund current government. If land value tax replaces income tax it needs to be fairly large, taking over 20% of mortgage value for just federal costs.

Some number of homes are owned outright and no longer have mortgages so the mortgage number may be a bit misleading. If we account for this we might get to a level that suggests 10% of mortgage value in taxes federally, raising to 15% of mortgage value when accounting for other levels of government. Such numbers suggest you'd need to be able to pay for your current property with an 8-year mortgage in order to pay the Georgist taxes on it.

I think a modern society that kept existing levels of government spending would see widespread downgrades in housing quality in a Georgist society.

parent TimPC 4 years ago

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