Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing

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.

Dr Josh Ryan-Collins is senior economist at the New Economics Foundation, where he has been based since 2006. He leads a research programme at NEF focusing on monetary and financial reform and the economics of land and housing and has published widely across these areas. Josh is the lead author of Where Does Money Come From?, a comprehensive guide to the workings of the modern monetary system, which is used as a textbook to teach banking and finance courses at universities in the UK and United States. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Southampton and is visiting research fellow at Southampton Business School and City University’s Political Economy Research Centre in London.

Toby Lloyd is head of housing development at Shelter, the UK’s largest housing charity, where he was previously head of policy. He has worked on housing issues across the public, private and voluntary sectors for over twelve years, advising ministers, mayors, businesses and communities. His proposal for a new Garden City won the runner-up award in the Wolfson Economics Prize 2014.

Laurie Macfarlane is an economist at the New Economics Foundation, working on land and financial reform issues. He was previously head of economic analysis at the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and also spent one year working in the markets and economics division at Ofwat. Laurie has written on land and housing reform for the progressive Scottish think tank Common Weal. He has a first class degree in economics from the University of Strathclyde.

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