The Role of Land in the Economy

A third of the economy goes to land rents, and that's why you can't afford to live in Manhattan. The landlord basically has this ability to increase the rents based on how much more productive the area is. When you own land, the chief measure of what you are providing is not what you're providing, but what you are excluding. You put up a gate around it and you don't let people use it. And you invoke the monopoly of the state to kick someone off of it.