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Article: Denmark.
- Article from:
- The American Journal of Economics and Sociology
- Article date:
- December 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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OLE LEFMANN [*]
KARSTEN K. LARSEN [**]
DENMARK WAS THE first country in Europe to put into practical operation the taxation of land values, and the first country in the world that had a political party of national influence whose chief aim was to make land value the principal and, if possible, the only source of tax revenue in the country.
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Historical Background
THE PRACTICE OF land-value taxation is deeply rooted in Danish history, going back at least to the reign of Valdemar the Great (1157-1182), and possibly even antedating the Viking king, Sven Forkbeard (985-1014). [1] However, after the Valdemar kings, who ruled ...