[FredPret]

That's a common meme - that asset appreciation is unearned wealth.

But it's not.

That investor could've spent the 3600 on hookers and blackjack.

Investors freezing their money in communities in the form of real estate or other investment is a key part of those communites becoming richer and more complex.

There's a real risk of losing your money - there's no worse financial nightmare than holding real estate that you're trying to sell for years... but no-one is buying

[wolverine876]

How did the investor in that empty lot make the community richer?

[ahmedalsudani]

It was used for blackjack and hookers.

[FredPret]

Speculative investment without asset improvements like that is the worst kind, but it still serves to stabilize prices for other investors. At worst, the speculator loses their shirt and a more capable capital allocator gets to work with the money.

[bradlys]

So.. investor helps other investors? Great. What about the common man?

[s_dev]

>that asset appreciation is unearned wealth

I'm sure we can agree the vacant lot never improved itself. It's not unearned -- it's earned by the surrounding community improving things -- which make that lot more attractive.

The incentives don't align. If that community was to massively regress e.g. unfavorable rezoning -- the value of that lot would plummet.

However in this case it's likely to be partially addressed by paying land value taxes which disincentivizes leaving it vacant -- what Henry George was getting at and wasn't there at the time.

[mactrey]

Any benefit is earned with a suitable definition of "earned"...