Referendum Initiatives Prevent Eminent Domain Abuse | Ilya Somin | Cato Institute: Commentary

Referendum Initiatives Prevent Eminent Domain Abuse | Ilya Somin | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'In reality, economic development condemnations often destroy local economies by wiping out neighborhoods, small businesses and schools. Moreover, the new owners are usually not required to actually produce the development they promised. In the Poletown case, the new factory produced only about half as many new jobs as were promised. In Kelo, nothing has been built on the condemned property six years after the Supreme Court upheld the takings.

Private developers who have a genuinely valuable project should be able to acquire the land they need through voluntary purchase. One of the strongest indications that their proposed project really is more valuable than current uses of the same land is their willingness to pay the current owners a price high enough to persuade them to sell. Economic development takings also undermine growth by reducing the security of property rights. If landowners fear that their land might be condemned, they are less likely to invest in it.'