The debate between the proponents of the rent gap hypothesis and Steven Bourassa concerning its internal consistency centres on the role of land use in capitalised land rent. Bourassa argues that capitalised land rent is nonsensical because it is determined in part by land use which is in conflict with land rent theory. The paper explores the determinants of capitalised land rent by reviewing the rent gap hypothesis and related research, and argues that the issue of scale is implicit in the rent gap. Land rent can be determined at a minimum of two scales resulting in at least two different land rents. This argument rectifies Bourassa's contentions, and is consistent with the theoretical foundations of the rent gap.
Recent discussions of the 'geography of gentrification' highlight the need for comparative analysis of the nature and consequences of inner-city transformation. In this paper, the authors map the effects of housing-market and policy changes in the 1990s, focusing on 23 large cities in the USA. Using evidence from field surveys and a mortgage-lending database, they measure the class selectivity of gentrification and its relation to processes of racial and ethnic discrimination. They find a strong resurgence of capital investment in the urban core, along with magnified class segregation. The boom of the 1990s and policies targeted towards 'new markets' narrowed certain types of racial and ethnic disparities in urban credit markets, but there is evidence of intensified discrimination and exclusion in gentrified neighborhoods.
A survey of mayors in small Illinois municipalities to determine the extent to which local public officials are using the Internet, the information from which will be used to design educational programs to assist public officials in finding ways to use the Internet to increase their access to the latest management practices and other information to improve the overall delivery of local public services and to provide benchmark information that can be used to monitor changes in the amount and types of Internet usage. ; "First printing: February 2001"--T.p. verso. ; Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-30) ; A survey of mayors in small Illinois municipalities to determine the extent to which local public officials are using the Internet, the information from which will be used to design educational programs to assist public officials in finding ways to use the Internet to increase their access to the latest management practices and other information to improve the overall delivery of local public services and to provide benchmark information that can be used to monitor changes in the amount and types of Internet usage. ; Mode of access: Internet.
AbstractThe worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression has drawn worldwide attention to America's subprime mortgage sector and its linkages with predatory exploitation in working‐class and racially marginalized communities. During nearly two decades of expansion, agents of subprime capital fought regulation and reform by (1) using the doctrine of risk‐based pricing to equate financial innovation with democratized access to capital, (2) appealing to the cultural myths of the 'American Dream' of homeownership, and (3) dismissing well‐documented cases of racial discrimination and predatory abuse as anecdotal evidence of rare problems confined to a few lost‐cause places in what is otherwise a benevolent free‐market landscape. In this article, we challenge these three tactics. Properly adapted and updated, Harvey's (1974) theory of class‐monopoly rent allows us to map and interpret the localized, neighborhood exploitations of class and race in several hundred US metropolitan areas as they were woven through Wall Street securitization conduits into global networks of debt and investment. Understanding the structural inequalities of class‐monopoly rent is essential for analysis, organizing, and policy responses to the crisis.Résumé La crise financière mondiale la plus grave depuis la Grande Dépression a attiré le regard de la planète sur le secteur américain des prêts hypothécaires à risque (subprime) et sur ses liens avec une exploitation abusive au sein des communautés ouvrières et raciales marginalisées. Durant près de vingt ans de prospérité, les établissements de crédit hypothécaire à risque ont combattu réglementations et réformes: ils ont appliqué une 'tarification au risque' pour rapprocher innovation financière et accès démocratisé au capital; ils ont tiré parti des mythes culturels liés au 'Rêve américain' de la propriété individuelle; ils ont écarté les cas vérifiés de discrimination raciale et de comportement abusif, sous prétexte d'anecdotes isolées circonscrites à de rares sites voués à l'échec dans ce qui est par ailleurs une sphère bienveillante du libéralisme de marché. L'article met en cause ces trois tactiques. Une fois adaptée et actualisée, la théorie de Harvey (1974) sur les rentes de monopole de classe permet de cartographier les exploitations localisées (quartiers) de classes et de races dans plusieurs centaines de zones métropolitaines américaines, et d'expliquer comment elles ont glissé, via les canaux de titrisation de Wall Street, jusqu'aux réseaux internationaux d'endettement et de placement. Il faut appréhender les inégalités structurelles des rentes de monopole de classe pour pouvoir analyser, organiser et répondre à la crise par des politiques publiques.
