Rather than taxing businesses and wealthy investors, “policy-makers should deal with the planning regulations and NIMBYism that inhibit housebuilding and which allow homeowners to capture super-normal returns on their investments.”

Well, it’s not either-or, as someone else pointed out. Taxes could also go to public housing, which means less scarcity, which on average makes the cost of land goes down. Yes, I know public housing has a bad rap in the States, but it seems to work in Europe. It’s certainly better than the alternative: tent cities.

Don’t get me wrong: taxes can be a quick panacea to incompetent governments, like heroin to junkies. But look at London (where my sister lives) — it’s become ridiculously expensive, because of land speculation. Sounds like SF has the same problem. We’re beyond simple supply and demand. If taxes stop this happening, good. Sometimes the Free Market can go and get f-cked.