The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset

How the world's oldest asset secretly shapes our modern economy In The Land Trap, Mike Bird—The Economist’s Wall Street editor—pulls back the curtain on how this ancient asset exerts outsized influence over the modern world. With masterful insight into global finance, Bird reveals how land has quietly become the linchpin of the world’s banking system, affecting everything from soaring housing prices to geopolitical tensions. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China’s modern-day real estate crisis, Bird shows how fortunes are built—or destroyed—all on the bedrock of land. As governments wrestle with inequality, climate crises threaten entire regions, and land becomes ever scarcer, The Land Trap offers a bold new framework for understanding the driving force behind today’s most pressing challenges. Eye-opening and timely, Bird’s analysis unveils how land remains the ultimate currency of power—and the key to economic survival in an increasingly fragile world. This is the book for anyone who wants to see beyond markets and money to the hidden 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.

About the Author :
Mike Bird is the Asia Business and Finance Editor for The Economist, where he covers financial markets, economic development, and major corporations across the continent. He also co-hosts the financial podcast Money Talks. Previously, he was a financial columnist and market reporter at The Wall Street Journal. Mike studied history and politics at the University of Exeter in the UK. He is currently based in Singapore.

Review :
Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2025 Longlist “A thought-provoking look at the little-examined role of land in making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — Kirkus “The Land Trap is a phenomenal tale of the original asset to beat all others. From America's wild frontier to the skyscrapers of today's Singapore and the ghost cities produced by China's wild real-estate boom, Mike Bird takes the reader on a wonderful exploration of how land remains at the heart of the global economy even today.” — Robin Wigglesworth, author of Trillions "We know that land can neither be created nor destroyed, but what The Land Trap shows is that it also can no longer be ignored. Mike Bird walks his reader through what makes humanity's most ancient asset so special—and how it has shaped modern history. A sweeping political, intellectual, and economic history that illuminates today’s thorniest challenges—from the housing crisis to geopolitical power. An indispensable read." — Jerusalem Demsas, editor in chief at The Argument “Mike Bird hasn't just written a history of land. The Land Trap is an outstanding alternative history of the modern world, through the prism of the asset that's come to dominate so many developed economies. If you want to understand how the global financial system became what it is, this book is essential.” — Matthew Campbell, coauthor of Dead in the Water “Mike Bird demonstrates the important and under-appreciated roles that land ownership, conflict, reform, and redistribution have played throughout modern history in a compelling, even eye-opening way. An illuminating read.” — Gregory Zuckerman, author of The Man Who Solved the Market “Bird manages to be wide-ranging in time, space and scope, while keeping the pace and wrapping up at a digestible length. Both newcomers to his theme and those familiar with the history will find eye-opening anecdotes here.” — The Financial Times “Smart and stimulating. The Land Trap is a brisk globe-trot through great moments in land policy, including the roots of the American Revolution, the preachings of the land-value tax evangelist Henry George, and the postcolonial land-reform movement of the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s.” — Slate "Bird’s shrewd analysis crackles with fresh insights that tie together material economics with financial abstractions. The result is a stimulating take on modern finance that shows investors’ fates are rooted in the dirt beneath their feet." — Publishers Weekly "One of those books that changes the way you see the world. Gripping, urgent, important." — Ed Conway, author of Material World "This wonderful book is as welcome as it is overdue... shines a much-needed light on this essential topic." — Rory Sutherland, author of Alchemy "A deftly written tale." — Lewis Baston, author of Borderlines