Previous
General Revenue
Ground rent is the portion of rent that covers the cost of the land itself (as opposed to house rent, or the rent paid to cover the cost of the buildings on that land).
Ground Rent Quotes in The Wealth of Nations
The The Wealth of Nations quotes below are all either spoken by Ground Rent or refer to Ground Rent. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 5, Chapter 2 Quotes
Ground-rents, so far as they exceed the ordinary rent of land, are altogether owing to the good government of the sovereign, which, by protecting the industry either of the whole people or of the inhabitants of some particular place, enables them to pay so much more than its real value for the ground which they build their houses upon; or to make to its owner so much more than compensation for the loss which he might sustain by this use of it. Nothing can be more reasonable, than that a fund, which owes its existence to the good government of the state, should be taxed peculiarly, or should contribute something more than the greater part of other funds, towards the support of that government.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In his chapter on taxation, Smith argues that the government should tax the value of the lot a house sits on, and not the value of the structure itself. Such taxes are easier to administer, don’t change the landlord’s incentives, and encourage people to spend less on housing (which is an unproductive use of their wealth). But perhaps most of all, Smith also defends ground rent taxes because they are much easier for the government to justify. As he explains here, the rent for land dedicated to housing depends entirely on the surrounding area’s economic climate. The land’s “real value” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta
Get the entire The Wealth of Nations LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Ground Rent Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the term Ground Rent appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 5, Chapter 2
...construction, plus the ordinary rate of interest (so that the builder can make a profit). Ground rent pays for the cost of the land. Ground rent is higher wherever there is more...
(full context)
...house rent taxes can be assessed based on the market rent (including for owner-occupied houses). Ground rent is the best rent to tax, as landlords do not actively use their lands, a...
(full context)
Taxing interest may seem advantageous, because interest is like ground rent : it is a market price which taxation will not change. (Rather, taxes effectively deduct...
(full context)
