Henry George

American political economist and journalist (1839–1897)

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About

Henry George, born in Philadelphia in 1839, was an American political economist and journalist. Self-taught, he left school before age 14, became a sailor, then settled in California where he worked as a journalist. His major work, Progress and Poverty (1879), proposed a solution to inequality: a single tax on land value. He advocated free trade and opposed socialism. A candidate for mayor of New York in 1886, he died in 1897 during his second campaign. His ideas, known as Georgism, influenced tax policies in several countries.

* 1839-09-02 — † 1897-10-28

Major works

Progress and Poverty (1879)economic treatise
Our Land and Land Policy (1871)pamphlet
The Irish Land Question (1881)essay
Social Problems (1884)essay
Protection or Free Trade (1886)essay

Key milestones

1879Publication of Progress and Poverty in San Francisco.
1886Ran for mayor of New York as the United Labor Party candidate, finishing second.
1897Died in New York City during his second mayoral campaign.

Themes

Single tax on land valueFree tradeEconomic inequalityTax reformSocial justice

Sources: britannica.com · id.loc.gov · lccn.loc.gov

“The march of invention has clothed mankind with powers of which a century ago the boldest imagination could not have dreamed.”

— Henry GeorgeTheme · Science

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“The man who gives me employment, though he may be a slave-driver, is my master; but the man who gives me work is my benefactor.”

— Henry GeorgeTheme · Business

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“The great work of the present generation is to build up a public opinion which will not tolerate the private appropriation of the value that the growth of the community gives to land.”

— Henry GeorgeTheme · Politics

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