Episode: The surprising economics of the world’s most valuable asset
Pub date: 2025-11-20
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Mike Bird, the Wall Street editor of The Economist, joins Cardiff to discuss his new book, The Land Trap: A New History of the World’s Oldest Asset.
By one estimate, the value of land makes up roughly a third of all the wealth in the entire world. Add the houses and commercial buildings on top of the land and the total value is almost two-thirds.
And according to Mike, land “defies some of the usual laws of capitalism that apply to other goods and assets.” Its supply is fixed, it is immobile, and it neither decays nor depreciates.
These special qualities have given land its fascinating history. They’re also the reason that so many economies end up in what Mike refers to as the land trap.
Mike and Cardiff discuss:
- The definition of a land trapWhy booming land values are a problem while they’re rising and not just because they often set the stage for a bustHow land affects older, established companies differently than newer, innovative businesses — and why that matters for the economy The perverse incentives that rising land values can have on a nation’s economyThe land histories of America, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore Land reform and the development of low-income countries The lessons of Singapore
And more!
Related links:
- The Land Trap, A New History of the World's Oldest AssetHousing booms, reallocation and productivity, by Sebastian Doerr, BIS
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