Wow what a vastly different read. Since the Monopoly market is artificially limited to create winners and loosers I never saw that as an implication of anything. Just a game mechanical necessity.
And I always thought the rent listings were the fair market price with that level of improvement. Remember you don't actually have to charge the rent as listed, things can get negotiated. Again purely game mechanics.
Maybe I spent too much time learning about game mechanics.
Good call. We've always played it rather Laissez-Faire, keeping to the rules as much as practicable. One think I cannot stand are folks who pay out for hitting Free Parking.
[That's an inflationary mechanism...]
However, if you don't mind games lasting for a week (literally), you can set up Real Estate trusts, sliding financial instruments, etc. Requires bookkeeping, but we let the banker do that.
Sometimes we let the banker play, too, or allow competing banks. Great stuff. Hate to see it change.