Why is the tax on a London mansion a tiny fraction of that in New York? | Simon Jenkins

While libraries and parks close and services for the vulnerable crumble, billionaires pay a pittance in council tax

Three of the most expensive homes in the world have been sold recently, and to one man. He is the American hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin. One will overlook Buckingham Palace at Hyde Park Corner and will cost £100m. Another is a new townhouse across the park at Carlton House Terrace, costing £95m. The third is a penthouse atop a “pencil block” at New York’s 220 Central Park S...