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Henry George
Historical figureUnited States1839-1897

Henry George

Political economist · Journalist and newspaper editor

A self-taught American economist and journalist who argued in Progress and Poverty that land rent should fund government, backed free trade and wanted natural monopolies run by the public.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes10 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Henry George, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-40
    PublicPrivate

    He would take land rent for the public and put natural monopolies under public ownership, but leave capital and the fruits of labor in private hands.

  2. 02Markets+30
    PlannedFree

    Apart from land and natural monopolies, he liked competitive markets and opposed most taxes on production and trade.

  3. 03Welfare-30
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority-50
    DemocraticStrong leader
  5. 05Security-20
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06StructureNo clear record
    LocalCentral

    He held no steady view on national versus state or local power.

  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional

    He had no steady view on family, sexuality or similar social questions.

  8. 08Religion0
    SecularReligious

    He used moral and religious language to make his case, but he never asked for churches to have a role in government.

  9. 09Technology-20
    EmbraceCaution

    Progress and Poverty welcomed material progress, and its question was why poverty lasted next to it.

  10. 10Culture+50
    MulticulturalNational identity

    The score comes from his 1869 essay urging an end to Chinese immigration. His later writing was about economic justice for all and said little on immigration.

  11. 11Trade-90
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy-30
    CooperationStrength

2 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Henry George?

Henry George, born in Philadelphia, left school early, went to sea and later worked as a printer and newspaper writer in California. He rose to run a San Francisco paper. He was struck that land prices climbed while poverty stayed, and he explained why in Progress and Poverty, published in 1879. It sold widely and attacked the accepted ideas about property and laissez-faire. George settled in New York and stood for mayor in 1886 for the United Labor Party, coming second. He ran again in 1897 but died of a stroke four days before the vote.

Political views

  • He wanted one tax, on the bare value of land, to pay for government in place of taxes on work and capital.Source: econlib.org
  • In his view the root of unequal wealth was that private owners kept the rent from land.Source: gutenberg.org
  • He championed free trade and attacked tariffs in his 1886 book Protection or Free Trade.Source: econlib.org
  • He thought natural monopolies and public utilities should be publicly owned and paid for from land rent.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • He promoted the secret ballot, and reformers who got it adopted in several states pointed to his influence.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • In an 1869 essay he argued for stopping Chinese immigration to California.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • He said 'protection' was a misleading label for trade barriers, because tariffs hurt the workers they claim to help.Source: econlib.org

Legacy

George's thinking, called Georgism, fed a movement in the United States, campaigns for land value taxes, parties in other countries and the economic plans of Sun Yat-sen. Even Milton Friedman called a tax on unimproved land the least bad tax. Critics reply that land values depend on improvements nearby, so the tax is less neutral than George claimed. They add that taxing the full value of minerals and other resources would discourage production. Owners of land saw his plan as an attack on property rights. Admirers see it as a fair way to share wealth that no individual earned.

In their own words

“We must make land common property.”
Progress and Poverty, Book VI, Chapter 2, 1879

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Henry George: questions

What is the single tax?

It is Henry George's proposal to raise public money from one source, a tax on the value of land itself, not buildings or work. He believed it would replace other taxes and share out land's natural wealth.

Was Henry George a socialist?

Not in the usual sense. He wanted land rent to go to the public and natural monopolies to be publicly owned. He also supported free trade, competitive markets and private ownership of capital.

What political party was Henry George in?

He did not stay with one of the big parties. In 1886 he ran for New York mayor on the United Labor Party ticket.

Sources