The logic of land rent

This is a short version of the logic of land rent. It could be expanded to use more formal language.


1. metaphysics
If anything exists then it is made of properties.
notes:
"anything"  = any object, any idea, e.g. a rock, a person, or a happy feeling
"properties" = the characteristics that define it e.g. the dictionary definition
  Note that this is not an assumption, it is a statement of logic. 


2. measuring
Properties are measured by seeing what changes when a thing is not there
  E.g. if you remove the item and mass disappears, the item has the property "mass."
Put another way, to find out to get something you want, see what causes it.


3. causing
If more of a thing exists then more of its properties exist.
e.g. more painters means more paintings (by definition, painters create paintings)
So If you want Y then you want X, because X causes Y 
 e.g. if you valuable land then you pay the people who make it valuable


4. trading
Some properties can be changed without changing a thing's identity.
e.g. changing color, changing the car you drive, etc.
This can be called trade: you rearrange properties without losing anything. 


5. values
Some properties have value in relation to a particular point.
i.e. this logic really matters, it is not just games with ideas.
e.g. if y = 2x then y has a value in relation to x; 
If a person's existence depends on food then food has a value in terms of that person.

6. profit and loss
Some trades increase or decrease a thing's value
note: in a perfectly efficient market, exchanges reduce profit to almost zero.
However, wealth still increases because sunlight (a gift) powers food production, etc.
Note the conservation of energy and laws of entropy in a closed system.
What we call wealth creation is simply the exchange of one thing (e.g. random materials) for something useful (e.g. manufactured goods). Ultimately any growth is traced to sunlight.


7. property and theft
Reducing another thing's value is called theft.
I.e. the presence of X creates the property "reduced value" in Y
  Note we could also say 'X is poisonous to Y' - it is just a label to indicate .


8. time
Alternatives imply alternative universes, known as different points in time.
Note that this logic does not imply that time flows, only that differences can be compared.
Note that a trade may take years for its results to be seen - e.g. investment; some pollution


9. tax on work is theft
Tax on work reduces the value of another's property and is therefore theft.


10. land rent is a government's property
If a government increases the value of land (e.g. by providing roads and safety) then that value is their property (see 'measuring' above).
This can be measured by the market price of bare land.

Note how the economic concept of "property" can be derived from the scientific definition.  In contrast, traditional definitions of economic property are derived from the opinions of philosophers, not logic.