Speculative investment is held up as a cornerstone of modern capitalism, but given the way it screws up the economy, I’m surprised it’s still legal.

Land rent is one of several sources of unearned wealth that bestow privileges on a minority of citizens while biasing the economy against the interests of the majority. 

A topic that gets virtually no coverage in mainstream economics is unearned wealth, yet it is both a cause and a symptom of our continuing economic malaise. 

Lord Robert Skidelsky, the biographer of John Maynard Keynes, is that rare animal among economists: he can explain complex economic ideas in terms anyone with a half-decent education should be able to understand.