Then consider the "value" of an empty lot, the archetype of land in itself. Its _price_ is based solely on the the _value_ that those near it produce. A high productivity region increases the value of neighboring empty lots. The lots themselves have produced nothing and whatever price they command is solely a drain on the productive part of the economy.
>Is a grocery store milking you for food you buy?
Value added by building or improving a resource like food or a structure is fundamentally different and obviously needs to be compensated and encouraged. But profit from an unchanged property is entirely a zero-sum gain moving wealth from productive parts of an economy to unproductive.
Then consider the "value" of an empty lot, the archetype of land in itself. Its _price_ is based solely on the the _value_ that those near it produce. A high productivity region increases the value of neighboring empty lots. The lots themselves have produced nothing and whatever price they command is solely a drain on the productive part of the economy.
>Is a grocery store milking you for food you buy?
Value added by building or improving a resource like food or a structure is fundamentally different and obviously needs to be compensated and encouraged. But profit from an unchanged property is entirely a zero-sum gain moving wealth from productive parts of an economy to unproductive.