True or False: Consistent with an open economy, a majority of land in the U.S. is publicly owned.

The statement is false because a majority of land in the United States is privately owned, not publicly owned. In fact, about 60% of the land in the U.S. is privately held, while public ownership, which includes federal, state, and local government land, accounts for a smaller portion. This reflects the characteristics of an open economy where private property rights play a significant role in land ownership and real estate development.

Furthermore, publicly owned land is often designated for specific uses, such as parks, forests, and government buildings, but it still represents a minority of total land area. The principles of a market economy encourage individual ownership and investment in land, which aligns with the predominant pattern of private ownership in the U.S. Therefore, the assertion that a majority of land is publicly owned misrepresents the actual land ownership distribution in the country.