Counting Bounty The quest to know the worth of Earth

Counting Bounty highlights a widespread blindspot: most of us overlook land and its power to twist an economy. Householders typically spend most of their budget on land without awareness. The story begins with the official and academic efforts to minimize the total worth of Earth in America. A perusal of the historical relationship between the elite and the intellectual shows that "paying the piper" is the norm, even up to the present. Using a slew of statistics and others’ research findings, this book tracks rent to its recipients, the rentiers who own much and wield power. Aware reformers can address pressing problems by tapping land value. Watching rent flow sheds light on how economies operate, why they sometimes fail, and what a society can do about it.

Jeff Smith founded the Forum on Geonomics. As editor of the news site Progress, he assimilated startling reports from all over the world, broadening and deepening his understanding of human societies.