New Books in History Mike Bird, "The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset" (Penguin, 2025)
Dec 14, 2025
Mike Bird, Wall Street editor at The Economist and author of The Land Trap, explores the profound impact of land on modern society. He reveals how colonial land practices laid the foundation for today’s financial systems and contrasts land tax models across various nations. Bird sheds light on the 'land trap,' where land ownership exacerbates inequality and financial crises. He also discusses Singapore's innovative land management strategies and the historical decline of Georgism, making a compelling case for understanding land's critical role in shaping economies.
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Land As Money
- Land can be transformed into money and used like a currency, an idea traced to 17th-century thinkers and colonial America.
- Early land banks and proposals treated land as the backbone of modern banking and commerce.
Frontier Finance In Colonial America
- Colonial North America was rich in land but poor in labor and coin, driving experiments in land-based finance.
- Settlers and thinkers like William Potter proposed land banks to turn land into circulating cash.
Frontier Closure And George's Rise
- The closing frontier intensified land monopolies and inequality, fueling Henry George's mass appeal in the late 19th century.
- George argued taxing land value could curb speculative damage and redistribute opportunity.
