Mike Bird

Our obsession with land is the driving force behind human history. It has sparked revolutions and fuelled economic booms as well as financial crises. Land is the world's oldest and most important asset, and it governs the course of our lives more than any other form of wealth. But this immense power is also what makes it so dangerous. In The Land Trap, The Economist's Wall Street editor Mike Bird reveals a sweeping, global history that shows how fortunes have been built - or destroyed - all on the bedrock of land. It has become the linchpin of the world's banking system and it affects everything from soaring housing prices to geopolitical tensions. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China's modern-day real estate crisis, this gripping narrative shows how the economics of land can make and break families, businesses, and even entire nations. This is the book for anyone who wants to see beyond markets and money to the hidden game being played out on the ground beneath our feet.

How the world's oldest asset secretly shapes our modern economy. In The Land Trap, Mike Bird-Wall Street editor at The Economist-reveals how this ancient asset still exerts outsize influence over the modern world. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China's real estate crisis today, Bird shows how fortunes are built-and destroyed-on the bedrock of land. Tracing three centuries of history, Bird explores how land quietly became the linchpin of the global banking system, driving everything from soaring housing prices to rising geopolitical tensisons. As governments wrestle with inequality and land grows ever scarcer, The Land Trap offers a powerful new framework for understanding the hidden force behind today's most urgent challenges. This is the book for anyone who wants to see beyond markets and money to the real game being played on a foundation as old as civilization itself. Timely, provocative, and essential, The Land Trap will change how you see the ground beneath your feet.