Open Letter to Gorbachev (1990)
'Socialise the Rent' (7 November 1990): thirty Western economists — including Nobel laureates Modigliani, Tobin, Solow, and Vickrey — urged the Soviet Union to keep land in public ownership and fund government from land rent during the transition. Organized by Nicolaus Tideman; the advice was not ta
Overview
On 7 November 1990, thirty Western economists published "Socialise the Rent: An Open Letter to Mikhail Gorbachev," urging the reforming Soviet Union to retain land in public ownership and raise government revenue by charging rent for its use — warning against repeating the West's enclosure-era mistake of giving land rent away to private owners.[1] Signatories included Nobel laureates Franco Modigliani, James Tobin, Robert Solow, and William Vickrey, plus William Baumol, Mason Gaffney, Lowell Harriss, and others; Nicolaus Tideman organized the signatures.[1][2]
The advice was not taken: Russia's 1990s privatizations gave away resource and land rents — the outcome Gaffney and Harrison's Corruption of Economics later contrasted with China's lease-based path, and a key exhibit in the land-rent-as-revenue debate about roads not taken.
See Also
- Nicolaus Tideman · Mason Gaffney · William Vickrey
- Land rent could fund government
- The Corruption of Economics (book)
Sources
- "Open letter to Gorbachev," Wikipedia · full text PDF — used for the date, demand, and signatory roster (A-claims).
- T. Nicolaus Tideman, "Socialize the Rent: An Open Letter to Mikhail Gorbachev" (reprint, 1991). cooperative-individualism.org — used for Tideman's organizing role (A-claim).