And an American Republican at that.

Sure, nice idea. I supported it back in 2008 or so.

But it will never get passed in any functioning democracy.

So better to figure out schemes that most people will actually support.

You are on the right track, but you have to be a bit more strategic.

Here is my proposal to get a LVT-like system with property owners embracing it and with less legal hurdles.

Keep the current system and make the minimal necessary changes.

E.g. if property tax is 0.6%, then make it 1.2% for houses that are vacant for a long period. This right there is a tax on speculation.

For undeveloped, derilict and/or underdeveloped lots, also double the property tax. E.g. if the property is worth less than 50% of the average property per area of land.

Now this extra revenue should flow directly to home owners and affordable housing.

For owner-occupied housing, make property tax up to half the average property tax deductible. E.g. if the average property tax is 6K, then two adults owning a home together with an 8K bill could deduct 6K from their tax.

For affordable rent, if the house is occupied, then half the property tax is given to the tenants.

All these figures are illustrative. Exact figures should be determined by good analysis.

Such a scheme would easily enjoy popular support and fix the housing crisis.

And it would kinda approximate the LVT, in the sense that it also provides similar corrections to the housing market that a LVT would have.

If I were Canada or Greenland, I would really start arming and training up militias.

Yeah, it’s a sobering thought, but better be prepared.

Sorry to disagree.

It’s not about Amazon or Temu. Here in the Netherlands, we actually did protect our market and two Dutch online stores are more popular than Amazon.

There is just a huge shift to online shopping due to convenience and cost. There is just less demand for physical stores.

Some of the online shops do open physical showrooms. Relatively small stores (think Apple store) where people can see some of the more expensive stuff before buying.

But huge malls and department stores will only be a thing for the largest cities and for outlets, to attract people who like to physically shop.

The smaller malls and department stores just aren’t needed anymore and will forever disappear from our landscapes.