The Mortgage Meltdown, The Economy, and Public Policy (Part 4)
A California Policy Perspective on the Financial Crisis Darrell Steinberg, President Pro Tem.-elect, California State Senate Larry Rosenthal, UC Berkeley, Moderator Panel 2: Demography and Geography of Foreclosures Robert Edelstein, UC Berkeley, Moderator “House Prices, Interest Rates, and the Mortgage Market Meltdown ” Chris Mayer, Columbia University “Subprime Mortgages, Foreclosures, and Urban Neighborhoods” Paul Willen, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Discussants: Mark Garmaise, UCLA Walter Torous, UCLA Alexei Tchistyi, UC Berkeley
Time to end land speculation which is at the heart of real estate investment for profit by shifting taxation to land value and off of improvements. All economists know that taxation of land values if heavy enough decreases the market price of land. To make housing more affordable it is necessary repeal Prop 13 and change the property tax in the state to a land value tax only. This will forever prevent the speculative rise in housing costs while at the same time discouraging sprawl.