The Foreign Economic Effect of the U.S. War on Drugs

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Uncovering the Costs of the Iraq War

Fred Foldvary reviews the recent book by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. Foldvary commends the book for its assembly of both the budgeted and implicit costs of the war, and its analysis of the economic impact of the war. The review posits that the better knowledge and accounting of the war costs as provided by this work will aid in establishing a more coherent dialog on policy for dealing with this and future conflicts abroad.war,Iraq,federal deficit,governmental accounting,governmental expenditures

Marginalists Who Confronted Land

Although the neoclassical turn in economics demoted land as a factor, important economists of neoclassical thinking, from neoclassical predecessors such Hermann-Heinrich Gossen through figures such as Leon Walras, did view land as a distinct factor of production. Walras, in particular, favored the use of land rent for public revenue. This paper examines the treatment of land by several neoclassical and Austrian economists and shows how, although the neoclassical school today has managed to bury land, some of the key figures who founded these schools did confront land as a factor. The burial of land is thus not inherent in neoclassical economics, but is a historical development that can be reversed. Copyright 2008 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc..

Geo-Rent: A Plea to Public Economists

This paper presents an analysis of what is termed “geo-rent,†what the plot-devoid-of-improvements would rent for in an auction. Most of the public finance literature and current thought has disvalued and misunderstood the actual and potential role of land and its rent for public revenue. The qualities of land value that make it a superior source of revenue—having little or no deadweight loss, and capitalizing civic infrastructure and services—are recognized but compartmentalized, ignored in the broader policy discussions. That the “producer surplus†is in reality mostly land rent is little recognized. The “Henry George Theorem†that rent can optimally equal the cost of public goods is not applied to policy issues. Public finance theorists and economists generally presume that land rent is an insignificant portion of national income, whereas studies have estimated that a substantial portion of government revenue could be obtained from geo-rent. The shunting aside and disparagement of public revenue from geo-rent has distorted economic analysis and contributes to iatrogenic economy-hampering fiscal policy. The paper proposes a broader and more integrated public economics which recognizes the fundamental role of land in economies and fully incorporates the analysis of public revenue from land rent.Henry George,land,private communities,public economics,public finance,rent,taxation

Efficiency, Accountability, and Private Government: The Impact of Residential Community Associations on Residential Property Values

This study evaluates the impact of residential community associations (RCAs) on RCA property values by testing competing theoretical expectations about the efficiency and accountability of RCAs with empirical evidence. Copyright (c) 2004 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.