Exactly my point!
Don't forget that after the tourists leave, the supply mechanics of Voodoo doughnuts kick back in, resulting in copious amounts of doughnuts circulating around the city. This causes a temporary obesity problem but everyone works it off in the spring. I read a study in Nature talking about the ecological effects of this phenomenon but I didn't really understand it.
I'll add your snap if you can recite the full rules of Magic the Gathering
Was, but no longer is. It is officially discontinued, making the ₹500 note the largest for now. I would expect the Government to quickly launch a new large-denomination note. India is still a largely cash society and the largest note being worth 6 USD is surely going to be inconvenient for everyday citizens.
The Government demonetised ₹1000 and ₹2000 banknotes a few years back as part of a campaign against "black money". The Government's thinking was that criminal organisations hoarded large amounts of cash in these large-denomination notes, and by forcing everyone to deposit the notes immediately into the bank, it would bring light to the flow of money.
It was not particularly successful and mostly all it did was lead to a week of chaos and long queues outside banks.
Computers will never consistently beat humans and humans will never consistently beat computers as snakes and ladders.
Or rock-paper-scissors, for that matter.
After hearing you explain it, I think you have me convinced that taxing only the land value is a fairer system and would encourage active development. My only concern is this:
- the land value of a plot of land in East Portland on which a single-family house sits may be worth $50,000
- a five-storey block of flats in, say, Downtown or even nearby like the Pearl District, Llyod, or whatever might have a land value of, for example, $100,000 (all numbers made up for illustrative purposes)
- the land on which the US Bank building may, for example, be worth $300,000
- the land on which Zenger Farms, a 10 ha. urban farm, sits may be worth $500,000 or more, because it's so big
Suppose the tax is 10% of the assessed land value. This means the owners of the East Portland house, the five-storey block of flats, the US Bank building, and Zenger Farms, would be assessed $5,000, $10,000, $30,000, and $50,000 respectively in tax. Now, I think I needn't point out that this doesn't seem fair. All of the plots of land are being used for "adequate" purposes, and yet it seems some of them are punished for that land use decision that in all isn't that bad. The urban farm is not exactly wasting land; it's providing valuable fresh produce to the city.
What I think would be better is a tiered system by categorising the traditional property tax bracket by land use:
- 0.1% for agricultural
- 0.5% or lower for medium or high-density buildings, such as skyscrapers, duplexes/triplexs/n-plexes, and mixed use zoning
- 1% for low-density commercial or single-family housing
- 5% for car parking
- 10% for vacant buildings
- 30% for empty lots
The numbers are arbitrary and illustrative only, but I think this allows for a more nuanced approach that allows for a finer-grained policy to be applied to discourage unwanted development
I cannot comment on how vigorously the law is enforced in other countries because I am not familiar with the legal environment. In the United States, downloading pirated content will eventually get legal notices sent to your internet service provider, who will threaten to (and legally is required to) disconnect you for repeated piracy. Using copyrighted pictures off the Internet will result in legal threats sent to you as well demanding settlements of hundreds of US dollars per picture, and they will follow through with a lawsuit if you don't pay. Although I have no specific examples of what Microsoft has done, Autodesk and Adobe have sued people who used pirated copies of their software for millions of dollars. People who operate websites offering pirated content have been prosecuted and sent to prison.
Maybe you as an individual can get away with it in your country, but don't assume it is the case all over the world.
Imagine trying to sell a computer to some old lady with a subscription OS:
Salesperson proceeds to recommend a Chromebook or a Mac.
The technically-savvy would look for Windows 11 machines, those who could and know how would install Linux, others will buy a Chromebook or a Mac, and only the truly stupid would pay the subscription.