Property taxes are assessed on market value, and if developed, the land would have contributed significantly to the county's overall annual tax revenue.

Shifting the burden of tax from Labour to land would actually hold down the price of housing and commercial space, because rental value that is taxed would not be recycled into new mortgages.

This low tax on land was part of the reason for the property bubbles in these countries, because untaxed land value was paid to Banks, which, in turn, lent it out to bid up prices all the more.