If you take all the land on the planet and put it on the real estate market, it would be worth about 200 trillion dollars. That's greater than all the economic outputs in the world. Land is simply the most valuable item in the world.
And why wouldn’t it be? We’ve all heard the joke: they aren’t making any more of it.
That saying captures a fundamental economic truth: land is a finite resource, and its value tends to appreciate over time. This scarcity makes land ownership one of the most reliable ways to accumulate wealth and power. Historically, those who controlled land controlled economic and political systems, from feudal lords in medieval Europe to plantation owners in the American South. In the United States, policies like the Homestead Act of 1862 granted land to settlers, but these benefits were largely denied to Black Americans and other marginalized groups, deepening racial and economic disparities.
Political scientist Michael Albertus shows that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment. Drawing on a career’s worth of original research and on-the-ground fieldwork, Albertus shows that choices about who owns the land have locked in poverty, sexism, racism, and climate crisis—and that what we do with the land today can change our collective fate.
Today, land ownership remains a primary driver of generational wealth. Homeownership, for example, provides financial security and access to better schools and job opportunities. However, rising property values and gentrification often push low-income families, particularly people of color, out of their communities, reinforcing cycles of poverty.
Land reform could address these inequalities by promoting affordable housing, expanding community land trusts, and implementing policies that make land ownership more accessible to historically disadvantaged groups. By redistributing land and ensuring equitable access, the U.S. could take a crucial step toward reducing wealth disparities and creating a more just society.
Guest:
Michael Albertus is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and the author of five books. His newest book is Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn't, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies. In addition to his books, Albertus is also the author of nearly 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, including at flagship journals like the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and World Politics.
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This interview will be recorded on Thursday, February 5, 2025.
