An Economy for Everyone
Land prices rise when communities grow. When that gain is shared, money flows to wages and real investment, homes stay affordable, and communities prosper together.
A Simple Idea
A fair economy honors effort and creation.
But land is different. No one made it. Yet its price rises as a community grows — when roads are built, schools open, businesses arrive, and neighbors move in. That gain comes from everyone. It should return to everyone.
When communities fund themselves from land instead of taxing work, homes become affordable, public services are well funded, and prosperity reaches every family.
How It Works
Keep what you earn.
Wages and buildings come from human effort. Work and enterprise flourish when effort is rewarded, not taxed.
Share what nature gives.
Instead, communities collect the rental value of land — value that the community itself creates through its growth and public investment.
Invest in everyone.
That revenue funds schools, hospitals, roads, and clean water. It can even be paid out directly to citizens, so every person shares in the wealth of their community.
Tested in the Real World
This is not a new theory. It already works.
Norway
Revenue from oil flows into a national pension fund that belongs to all Norwegians — now one of the largest in the world. Today, each citizen’s share is worth over USD $300,000.
Real Estate Speculation
In 1997, economist Fred Foldvary predicted a major financial crash in the United States around 2008 — over a decade in advance — by studying land speculation cycles. He was right. Economies that share land value avoid these destructive booms and busts.
Singapore
Most land is publicly owned and leased. Even in one of the world’s most expensive cities, that land revenue funds quality public housing — home to about 8 in 10 Singaporeans — at prices far below the private market, while taxes on work stay low.
Alaska
The state shares its oil wealth directly: every resident receives a yearly dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund.
What This Means in Daily Life
A home you can afford.
When land can’t be hoarded for speculation, homes cost closer to what they cost to build.
Strong public services, light taxes on work.
Land value provides steady public revenue, so wages and businesses don’t have to carry the whole burden.
A stable economy.
Most financial crises begin with land speculation. Sharing land value removes the fuel.
Nature protected.
When using land has a fair price, no one wastes it — and what isn’t needed stays wild.
Rooted in Centuries of Economic Thought
Unitism was founded by Martin Adams, author of Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World. Our work builds on the classical economics of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, and Henry George, and on modern economists including Fred Foldvary, Mason Gaffney, and Fred Harrison.
We advise governments and organizations on putting these principles into practice — from land value assessment to public revenue design.
We help countries, cities, and communities fund themselves from rising land prices instead of taxes on work and enterprise — so homes stay affordable, public services are well funded, and everyone can thrive.