New Books Network Mike Bird, "The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset" (Penguin, 2025)
Dec 14, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Mike Bird, Wall Street editor at The Economist and author of The Land Trap, dives into the complex relationship between land and modern economies. He reveals how land has shaped financial systems from colonial America to contemporary crises in places like Hong Kong and China. Bird outlines the differences between land value tax and property tax, critiques historical frameworks like Georgism, and explores how proactive land policies in Singapore offer potential solutions to inequality and scarcity. This conversation reshapes our understanding of land as a driving force behind economic structures.
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Hong Kong Sparked The Book
- Mike Bird moved to Hong Kong in 2018 and that experience shifted his focus from housing to land as a systemic force.
- Hong Kong's unique fiscal use of land and extreme prices inspired Bird's book idea.
Colonists Turned Land Into Currency
- Colonial North America turned land into a form of money because settlers were rich in land but poor in cash and labor.
- William Potter's 1650 idea of a land-backed currency anticipated modern banking practices.
Henry George's Political Surge
- Henry George's 1879 Progress and Poverty captured mass support by linking rising inequality to land monopolies.
- George's advocacy helped push the U.S. toward relatively high property taxation as a political compromise.
