Progress & Poverty Institute

09/07/2026

Price controls. Consumer boycotts. They're not nothing, but do they fix what's actually broken?

In this first post of a two-part series, David Southgate looks at short-term market fixes alongside UN poverty expert Olivier De Schutter's case for real economic democratization

As the cost of living is skyrocketing, policy proposals tied to fairness and equality are making a comeback. Think about, for example, Mamdani-style socialism, a type of “consumer socialism” that attacks consumer prices through government supplied services, such as universal childcare and city-r...

09/02/2026

Today we celebrate the birthday of Henry George, our Institute’s intellectual northstar.

On this day, we share with you this quote of Henry’s, particularly favored by his wife Anna.

08/28/2026

In Puerto Rico, recurring dry taps stem from decades of decaying infrastructure, power grid failures, and a policy model that treats public goods as a market commodity. For low-income and elderly residents who cannot afford private cisterns or endless bottled water, this crisis transforms everyday survival into a stark reality of economic injustice.

In this radio interview transcript with PPI’s Senior Research Associate, David Southgate explains how the burden falls hardest on those least equipped to bear it.

In Puerto Rico, recurring dry taps stem from decades of decaying infrastructure, power grid failures, and a policy model that treats public goods as a market commodity. For low-income and elderly residents who cannot afford private cisterns or endless bottled water, this crisis transforms everyday s...

08/27/2026

After Hurricane Maria, one Puerto Rico mayor built his own power authority out of retired linemen and sheer defiance. Nearly a decade later, a barrio in Ponce is trying something more durable: mapping all 2,000 of its broken streetlights by hand to force $20 million in federal funding into action. This is how La Playa de Ponce is turning blackout rage into a blueprint the government can't ignore.

After Hurricane Maria, one Puerto Rico mayor built his own power authority out of retired linemen and sheer defiance. Nearly a decade later, a barrio in Ponce is trying something more durable: mapping all 2,000 of its broken streetlights by hand to force $20 million in federal funding into action. T...

08/24/2026

Philly has tens of thousands of vacant lots, and needs as many homes.

Could taxing land more, and buildings less, fill vacant land with much-needed housing?

Learn more at our Sept 8 webinar hosted by AIA-Philly!

Register:
https://aiaphiladelphia.org/events/view/land-value-tax-presentation-discussion

08/21/2026

New blog post from PPI Senior Research Associate David Southgate!

After Hurricane Maria, one Puerto Rico mayor built his own power authority out of retired linemen and sheer defiance. Nearly a decade later, a barrio in Ponce is trying something more durable: mapping all 2,000 of its broken streetlights by hand to force $20 million in federal funding into action.

This is how La Playa de Ponce is turning blackout rage into a blueprint the government can't ignore.

After Hurricane Maria, one Puerto Rico mayor built his own power authority out of retired linemen and sheer defiance. Nearly a decade later, a barrio in Ponce is trying something more durable: mapping all 2,000 of its broken streetlights by hand to force $20 million in federal funding into action. T...

08/13/2026

Nine scholars, three programs!

Seven Progress of Ideas Scholars at Rutgers' Bloustein School are working on affordable housing, farmland preservation, clean energy access, community land ownership, and the fate of artists in the neighborhoods they helped make desirable.

Alyssa Schatz (Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation), our first H. William Batt, PhD Memorial Scholar, is at Harvard on a Fulbright and at Standing Rock this summer building the zoning and grants infrastructure that tribal sovereignty runs on.

Martin Jacobson, our first Scholar-in-Residence, is rebuilding the three-factor model of production and showing it explains what the two-factor version cannot.

Meet all nine below.

https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/meet-the-2026-27-ppi-scholars/

08/12/2026

New grant announcement: Nathan Seegert (Business and Public Policy Center & Northeastern University) will study who really wins and loses under land value taxation, using property, housing, and neighborhood data to bring hard evidence to a long-running policy debate.

Welcome, Nathan!

https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/sponsored-research/

08/05/2026

New grant announcement: Angela Tiangco and Joh Gehlbach of Yes In My Back Yard are mapping out how land value taxation could actually happen in Virginia, from legal analysis to stakeholder interviews to a policy toolkit for advocates.

We're excited to see this research translate into real political pathways for LVT in Virginia!

https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/sponsored-research/

08/04/2026

Congratulations to Professor Manoj Viswanathan (UC Law SF) on his new PPI research grant. His project explores whether a supplemental land value tax, layered on top of existing property taxes, paired with an exemption and earmarked for progressive purposes, can overcome the political resistance that has historically stalled Land Value Tax adoption.

https://progressandpovertyinstitute.org/sponsored-research/