I'm less worried about the economic aspects (western countries can afford this) than the social ones, namely the new forms of resentment this will encourage when taxpayers see all the things 'their' money is buying people.
As long as there are greedy people and a limited supply of earth and its resources there will always need to be an accounting system for it. But that's not to say the system can't be improved. A full land-value tax would give the inherent value of land and natural resources back to the public and compensate those who use less of our limited resources from those who use too much.