Economic History for Economists: Why? (Nicholas Crafts)

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If one looks at what is occurring during the build-up to a financial crisis, the causes are to be found in credit-fueled, speculation-driven property (or, more specifically, land) markets. Discussion of land markets requires discussion of the question of "who owns the land" and are land markets competitive or subject to monopolistic forces. This relationship is clearly described, quite remarkedly, by Winston Churchill in the speeches he delivered during his first campaign for a seat in the House of Commons in 1909. Churchill recognized that monopoly privilege will inevitably destroy societal stability. He described the monopoly of land (in Britain) as "the mother of all monopolies. What he was referring to was both the absolute control over land by a small minority of the population as well as the private appropriation of the rent of land. Churchill was at this point a member of the Liberal party, sharing the positions of Lloyd George, Philip Snowden and others on what was referred to from the time of Adam Smith on as "the land question."

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