Progress and Poverty
It examines why poverty persists alongside economic and technological progress, and why economies experience cyclical booms and busts. The book argues that the capture of economic rent from natural resources and land titles is the logical solution to these problems.
- field
- Political economy, social reform
- author
- Henry George
- known_for
- Proposing a single tax on land values, sparking the Georgist movement
Lore & Background
Henry George wrote Progress and Poverty as his first book, drawing on his own experience of poverty, travels, and life in rapidly growing California. A visit to New York City reinforced his observation that the poor in older cities were worse off than those in less developed California. The book sold several million copies, becoming one of the highest-selling books of the late 1800s. It helped spark the Progressive Era and a worldwide social reform movement known as Georgism. The Princeton historian Eric F. Goldman noted that an enormous number of men and women who would lead 20th-century America in humane activities wrote or said that their thinking had been redirected by reading Progress and Poverty in their formative years. George argued that technological and social advances increase land values and rents, and that land speculation causes the price of land to rise faster than wealth can be produced. This lowers wages and leads to business depressions, unemployment, and foreclosures. His proposed remedy was a single tax on land values, high enough to end other taxes, which would give landowners an incentive to use land productively and raise wages.
Reader's Guide
Progress and Poverty had a profound impact on reform movements in the United States and around the world, particularly in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Contemporary sources and historians claim that in the United Kingdom, a vast majority of both socialist and classical liberal activists traced their ideological development to Henry George. Its central argument—that poverty persists because increases in productivity go to rent rather than wages—influenced the Progressive Era and continues to inform debates about land value taxation and economic inequality.
Did You Know?
- Progress and Poverty sold several million copies, becoming one of the highest-selling books of the late 1800s.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Progress and Poverty about?
It is a 1879 work of political economy that investigates why widespread destitution persists even as material wealth and technology keep advancing, and why economies keep swinging between booms and busts.
Who wrote Progress and Poverty?
American journalist and political thinker Henry George authored the book, and it went on to become the founding text of the Georgist school of economic thought.
What is the central policy proposal in Progress and Poverty?
George contends that the private capture of economic rent from land and natural resources is the root cause of both entrenched inequality and cyclical crises, and he advocates a single tax on unimproved land values as the remedy.
Why is Progress and Poverty considered significant?
The book launched the Georgist movement and has shaped debates over land taxation, urban planning, and economic inequality for well over a century.
What paradox does the title 'Progress and Poverty' capture?
It highlights the puzzle George sets out to explain: how a society can enjoy ever-growing material and technological advancement while simultaneously suffering from deep, persistent poverty and recurring economic depressions.
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