TinyLVT is a web app that applies a 19th-century economic idea to modern resource-sharing problems. The concept comes from Henry George, whose "single tax" philosophy argued that the value of land belongs to everyone, not just whoever happens to occupy it. TinyLVT shrinks this down to a practical scale: auction desks in a shared workspace, rooms in a co-living house, or stalls in a market, then distributes the auction proceeds equally to everyone in the community.
The site walks through a scenario in which grad students compete for desks in an economics department. Fourteen desks across five locations are auctioned quarterly. Students bid what they're actually willing to pay, desks go to whoever values them most, and those who don't win still get an equal share of the auction revenue. The student who really wants the window-facing desk can have it — but they compensate everyone else for taking it.
It's a clever solution to a problem anyone who's shared space knows well: resources either get captured by whoever showed up first, or they're assigned by lottery to people who don't really want them. A desk sits empty because its "owner" works from coffee shops, while someone who'd actually use it goes without. The auction ensures desks go to people who'll use them, and the redistribution ensures everyone benefits from the space's value.
The platform handles the complexity — proxy bidding, climbing prices, and automatic redistribution. You just set your values and let it run. It's Georgism as a service.
