Cities are growing worldwide and their sprawl is increasingly challenged for its pressure on open spaces and environmental quality. Economic arguments can help to decide about the trade-off between preserving environmental quality and developing housing and business surfaces, provided the benefits of environmental quality are adequately quantified. To this end, this book focuses on the use and advancement of the “hedonic approach”, an economic valuation technique that analyses and quantifies the sources of rent and property price differentials. Starting from theoretical foundations, the hedonic approach is applied to the valuation of natural land use preservation and noise abatement measures, as well as to residential segregation and discrimination, extending the analysis to the role of the buyers and sellers' identity on housing market prices and to the issue of environmental justice.

If you have ever wondered why American Catholics and American Protestants in the mainline denominations in 2011 believe and worship in very similar ways; why Democrats and Republicans accept the necessity of governmental intervention to secure the "safety net" of services citizens may need to access at various times in their lives; and why average American workers in their pivotal role as producers and consumers of goods and services "own" the nation's economy; Three Essays and Three Revolutions is the book for you.Author Francis Goskowski argues that Martin Luther, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Karl Marx, three "Founding Fathers" of the modern world, are responsible for the "big ideas" that have shaped current thinking in religion, politics, and economics. By closely examining one important work of each thinker, the author shows how the revolutionary concepts Luther, Rousseau, and Marx advanced, provoked fierce opposition within the prevailing order, but ultimately gained acceptance in all circles, evidenced by the fundamental agreement on religious liberty, civic equality, and economic justice apparent throughout the Western world today.This eloquently written, thought-provoking, and sensibly priced collection of essays...is timely and long overdue. Three Essays and Three Revolutions is the sort of wonderful book of which any aspiring writer might wish to claim authorship. I am sure that it will be wisely read, thoughtfully debated, and much treasured in the years ahead. - John Quentin Feller, Ph.D., K.H.S., former professor of history and historical consultant to the late Cardinal Lawrence J. Shehan and retired Cardinal William H. Keeler, 12th and 14th Archbishops of Baltimore respectively.

Based on the work of Karl "Chip" Case, who is renowned for his scientific contributions to the economics of housing and public policy, this is a must read during a time of restructuring our nation's system of housing finance.