A sort of political analog of the biologists punctuated gradualism, is to move the tax burden onto land values not in small steps, but in large steps, each step being accompanied by the abolition of some existing taxes for all of the people, or of all existing taxes for some of the people, so that any politician who proposes to reverse the step has a veritable cliff-face to climb a cliff-face made all the higher by the compliance costs that disappeared along with the taxes. Thus each step, like the click of a ratchet, is easier to do than to undo, lithe first step is intrinsically free of jar or shock, it can be implemented without delay.

A particularly attractive first step is the one that collects lust enough of the site rent to abolish all existing taxes for all of the people. But if this much is to be done without forcing recent mortgagers into negative cash flow, the lenders will need to be treated as part-owners in proportion to debts incurred before the first step.

From Dr. Gavin Putland’s paper, “Land-Backed Debt as a Revenue Base”