For all the alarm about the “rise of the robots,” or “software eating the world” or the peril of climate change, one of the most pressing economic dangers of the future is getting short shrift: Landlords are eating the world.
Property owners account for a growing share of the income from what's defined as capital* in this article. And that's bad.
*Land is actually not capital, but the rest of the article's conclusions are sound. Land differs from true capital in that:
Land is finite, Capital is infinite within the constraints of Labor and Land
Land generally appreciates over time (though not in Detroit etc.) while capital always depreciates.
Land is created by nature, Capital by humans.
Land is essential for Life, Capital is highly useful but not essential.
At www.bloombergview.com
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