Land for the People

Empowering communities through land value tax solutions that drive sustainable growth.

Tom Johnson: “The Best Mayor”

Tom Loftin Johnson (1854–1911) was a visionary American politician, industrialist, and reformer known for championing land value tax principles and urban social reform. As Mayor of Cleveland from 1901 to 1909, he implemented progressive changes that improved public services, reduced transit fares, expanded green spaces, and advanced municipal ownership. Inspired by the economic theories of Henry George, Johnson devoted his career to combating monopoly power, advocating public ownership, and promoting fairer taxation for the public good, earning praise as “the best mayor.”

The Economists Favorite Tax

Land is a limited resource and a vital input to economic activity. Markets should award productivity from the use of land, not from land ownership itself. That’s why a land value tax, which discourages speculation and promotes fair use, is known as the "economist's favorite tax."

Greg Miller
President
greg@tomjohnson.org

Greg Miller is the President of the Tom Johnson Foundation. He brings experience from his role as a Program Analyst in the Office of Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Before his time at HUD, Greg founded a tenants association, sparking his interest in the connections between land ownership and economic inequality. He holds degrees in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame.

“The great cause of inequality in the distribution of wealth is inequality in the ownership of land. The ownership of land is the great fundamental fact which ultimately determines the social, the political, and consequently the intellectual and moral condition of a people.”

— Henry George, Progress and Poverty