Today, real estate markets in many parts of the developed world are in crisis. In the most expensive regions, wealthy landowners earn millions by simply holding on to pieces of real estate that they acquired at dirt-cheap prices more than half a century ago. Rules like California's Proposition 13 mean that they only have to pay property taxes calculated as though their plot still had a much lower price. At the same time, many of these same people push to maintain restrictive regulations that prevent more dense housing from being built. This is a society that favors the rich.