The Political Economy of Institutional Landownership: Neorentier Society and the Financialization of Land

In recent decades a substantial shift in landownership has taken place in rural A merica as millions of acres of land have come under the ownership and control of various financial institutions. This article outlines a political economic framework for explaining and interpreting the significance of this proliferation of institutional investments into rural lands. Focusing on two of the nation's most important rural land resources—timberland and farmland—I suggest that we are witnessing an unprecedented integration between finance capital and landownership that harkens back to previous eras of rentier control. I further suggest that this increasing tendency to treat land as a financial asset—what I refer to as the “financialization of landownership”—gives rise to a number of contradictions that may have profound effects on rural communities across the U nited S tates. I conclude with a discussion of a land bubble and the role of institutional landowners in pushing up land prices in both timberland and farmland markets.