Henry George, Protectionism and the Welfare of the Working Class

A bstract . Robert J. Rafalko's recent essay in this J ournal argued that Henry George provided a view of protectionism which was at once novel and relevant to contemporary debate in economic theory. In response, after arguing that George offered a basically conventional approach to protection and free trade , one which did not deviate substantially from the major body of theory available in the 1880s, this paper goes on to contend that the present debate surrounds assumptions and issues which were not considered in any detail by George. The general work of Henry George was certainly novel and of relevance today, but this may not be said of his position on tariffs and free trade.     

Henry George:

ABSTRACT While generally known today for his famous proposal for a Single Tax, Henry George has not been widely recognized as one of the first economists to write about the possibility of political market failure. Based on his appreciation for the allocational efficiency of markets and his suspicion of government intervention, George was an early advocate of public choice ideas who repeatedly warned of the dangers of rent seeking.     

Henry George Under the Microscope: Comments on "Henry George's Political Critics"

The annual supplement of the AJES for 2008 titled Henry George: Political Ideologue, Social Philosopher, and Economic Theorist had as its first and longest essay "Henry George's Political Critics" by Professor Michael Hudson. It offered a multitude of criticisms, most of which Prof. Hudson seemed to agree with. All purported to be criticisms of George as a political strategist, though some seem more to originate from Hudson's disagreement with theoretical positions George was bound to take. The purpose of this short paper is to show that Professor Hudson's long article fails to do what it seems intended to do. That is, it fails to show that trade unionists and especially socialists were "natural allies" of the Georgist movement, that it was George's fault that that they were not, and that George "allied" his movement irrevocably to "capital," rejecting its "natural allies."     

The Economics of Henry George: A Review Essay

This is a welcome addition to the literature on Henry George. Bryson seeks to “rehabilitate” George—by highlighting his major achievements, by explaining why academic economists have rejected or neglected him, and by showing how nonetheless George has had a major but little‐acknowledged impact on economic thought.     

Guidance from an Economics Classic: The Centennial of Henry George's 'Protection or Free Trade'

A bstract . The ideas of Henry George on free trade and land taxation are still relevant. The standard of living has risen without the adoption of his ideas on the latter in contradiction of his predictions. But the decrease in protectionism is important in explaining the failure of the predictions and upholds his views on the benefits of free trade.     

The Free Trade Philosophy of Sir George Paish

Sir George Paish (1867–1957) was a British economist whose unique position as a journalist, political advisor, and international traveler gave him access to significant world events and leaders. Paish wrote for and edited the financial magazine The Statist and earned recognition as an expert on British and American railways. He lectured and wrote on economics and international finance throughout his adult life and advised David Lloyd George on economic subjects between 1909–1915. Paish's written works provide insight to early 20^th-century economic affairs through the lens of his liberal, free trade philosophy. This article examines many of Paish's most relevant reflections on free trade, following the chronology of his life.     

George on Land Speculation and the Winner's Curse

A bstract .   Henry George anticipated the winner's curse phenomenon and suggested an antidote to prevent wasteful land speculation. In these ways his economic ideas still resonate today as part of modern finance theory.     

The Death of Henry George: Scholar or Statesman?

A bstract . Henry George was determined to complete his book on political economy (subsequently published as The Science of Political Economy ) but in March 1897 his health began to deteriorate. Ignoring doctors'warnings George continued to work on his project and in June of 1897, George, as if not having enough to do, accepted the nomination to run for Mayor of Greater New York. At the night of his acceptance of the nomination George was already thin of body; and his face was ashen. Five days before the election, on October 28, 1897, George succumbed to the inevitable and was buried on November 1, 1897. His passing provoked a hundred thousand citizens to pass before his bier, and in so doing the crowd vindicated George s lifelong idea of the brotherhood of man.     

True Free Trade Is Still True

Protection or Free Trade (1886) by Henry George remains the classic argument for complete free trade. The arguments against free trade were either anticipated and refuted by George, or they are unanticipated arguments that claim changed or overlooked circumstances have altered the case for free trade. This article refutes these unanticipated arguments by restating the classic economic case for free trade, analyzing counterarguments to free trade, and examining the continuing relevance of George’s theory of the distribution of the benefits of free trade.     

Frank H. Knight's Criticism of Henry George

A bstract .   The ferocity of Knight's comments on Henry George may come as a surprise to those who are not familiar with his criticisms of other economists and philosophers. But, in fact, his criticisms of George are not due to specifically Knightian insights on George's approach, but rather reflect the different philosophical framework from which neoclassical economists like Knight think. At the core of Knight's disagreements with George is his neoclassical theory of rent, as the Georgist critics of Knight understand. The article reviews the philosophical, economic, and ethical ideas that underlay Knight's neoclassicism, and hence inform his criticism of George.     

Franz Oppenheimer's (1864–1943) Social Economic Approach to Health

The idea of scholarly synthesis was central to the founders of the American Journal of Economics and Sociology. Franz Oppenheimer (1864–1943) in fact impersonated the idea of scholarly synthesis. Being the son of a Reformist rabbi—these religious roots provided the impulse for his work—he started out as a physician in the industrial suburbs of Berlin; his diagnosis was that he faced social and not medical disease, which consequently brought him to the study of economics. But unlike many mainstream economists today, he insisted on the necessary cooperation between economists and sociologists, ideally in one person. His chair in Frankfurt, showing his own handwriting, was denominated for economic theory and sociology. In this article, I show his contributions with respect to economic aspects of health. These are not well known. Part of the reason is that the field of health economics as it is taught now is very narrow. Therefore, Oppenheimer's health economic contributions tend to be overlooked.     

Seeking Institutionalist Signposts in The Work of Henry George

A bstract . When one seeks institutionalist signposts in works published before the time of Thorstein Veblen, Henry George is often overlooked. This oversight on the part of institutionalists is understandable given George's emphasis on " natural laws," individualism, religious teachings and his defense of the market system. Orthodox economists have also ignored these signposts as a result of their rejection of institutionalism. They have rejected George's work in general because of his attack on the economics profession and his challenge to the status quo. While George is usually not classified an institutionalist, there are, however, definite institutionalist signposts to be found in his work. George recognized the ceremonial and pecuniary nature of the economics profession and analyzed the institutional foundation of property. Furthermore, George was a social reformer and understood the discretionary and normative nature of the economy.     

Henry George and George Bernard Shaw: Comparison and Contrast

A bstract . Henry George , the American economist and social philosopher , and George Bernard Shaw , the British playwright and social reformer , were two famous personalities of the last quarter of the 19th century, each a prophet in his own way. The two men probably never met, though Shaw credited George's oratory as well as his classic. Progress and Poverty , with awakening his interest in economic issues, and to his last days acknowledged his debt to George. Both were deeply committed to ending poverty. But there the similarity ended—George was devoted to ethical democracy, Shaw to socialist dictatorship. George saw cooperative individualism as the goal of social reconstruction; Shaw dreamed of a Superman, and fancied himself a supporter of the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, and of Soviet Russian'communism.'Shaw saw the purpose of life as "being used for a (mighty) purpose;" George saw it as blazing a trail for'progressive humanity,'cooperating with the Creator in creating a moral world.     

T.H. Huxley's Critique of Henry George

A bstract . In 1890 Thomas Henry Huxley launched an extremely harsh attack against Henry George. The basis for the attack has until now remained unclear. The opening in 1959 of Charles Darwin's research journals, has led derivatively to reconsideration of Huxley's position as an advocate of evolutionary biology and proponent of science and scientists in Britain, and thereby offers new perspective on the roots of the Huxley-George controversy. The reasons for the conflict are to be found in Huxley's attempt to attract British workers to acceptance of evolutionary science , and to market scientists to employers as defenders of order and progress, who should be supported by the public and the public purse. The challenge George made was to appeal for social reform and fairer treatment for workers through more traditional, non-science based appeals. Thus, George accepted the concept of natural order and religion as valid. The heart of the science Huxley propounded had a Malthusian beat, but George, perhaps unknowingly, turned the primary argument of evolutionary science—Malthusian dynamics—against Huxley. George was not only a threat to Huxley personally but also to the enormous efforts Huxley had invested in attempting to professionalize science through the vehicle of having British workers accept the cosmic kaleidoscope and concepts of biological man. George, holding the older human self-image was triumphant in appealing to British workers since his message.     

Moses—Henry George's Inspiration

Abstract . Henry George delivered his famous “Moses” lecture in 1878, just one year prior to the publication of his masterwork. Progress and Poverty. The many parallels in the thinking of both George and Moses suggest that George may have been greatly inspired by Moses. George appreciated Moses’concern with improving this world rather than the hereafter. Moses, like George, advocated a minimum role for government. Moses proposed a thoroughly equitable distribution of the land which would generate fair taxes and avoid the exploitation so denounced by George. Land accumulation by the few would be prevented by requiring the return of ownership to the original owners every fifty years. George, the humanitarian, is also sympathetic with Mosaic reforms restoring human dignity such as the cancellation of oppressive debt every seventh year, and relief from drudgery every sabbath day and sabbatical year.     

Curing Slums: The Jane Jacobs Way and the Henry George Way

Henry George and Jane Jacobs were both self‐taught public figures who shared an appreciation of the density, productivity, diversity, and cultural creativity of big cities. A century separated them, during which architects and planners designed cities according to abstract principles, but George and Jacobs expected the creative potential of a city to emerge from its inhabitants, not from a central planner. Although the interests and concerns of George and Jacobs overlapped on only a few topics, they both believed that slum dwellers could solve their own problems, given the right tools. For Jacobs, the solution to dilapidated housing lay not in bulldozing neighborhoods, but in rehabilitating them through a process she called “unslumming,” a gradual process of self‐improvement that has at times been accused of being gentrification. Henry George offered a different solution, involving taxation of land values, one that did not focus on particular neighborhoods and thus avoided the paradox that local improvements would raise the price of real estate too high for local residents to stay. An example is given of how George's solution actually worked in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. In this case, no change in tax policy was needed to bring about a local economic renaissance in the 1960s, merely the realignment of property assessments that correctly reflected the actual value of land.     

On the Centenary of Progress and Poverty

A bstract . Henry George was more fortunate than many authors of classics. His Progress and Poverty won understanding, appreciation and recognition from the start. The book presented a theory of the business cycle based on monopoly of which theorists must take account. It also represented the peak of the development of the classical school. George shared with the school's great figures, particularly Adam Smith and David Ricardo , a Utopian vision of a free economy. But George went beyond them in envisioning a free society in a new moral order; he was one of the great libertarian philosophers. Moreover, as Teilhac has shown, he projected into economics a social rationalism that opened the way for a reborn political economy based on scientific method. Though his is one of the enduring creations of the human mind which spur the species on to greater cultural achievements, it is, first and foremost, an economic classic. Insofar as George pointed to monopoly and privilege as socially disastrous institutions , his teaching has been adopted by economists everywhere. His doctrine that all men share a common right to the earth now rules space exploitation—that is, the universe —and the deep oceans and it is winning grudging recognition in the one-fourth of the earth humanity inhabits.     

Henry George's Perspective on War and Peace

This essay examines Henry George's perspective on war and peace. With justice added to the foundation in the way that Henry George proposes, the conditions of inequality and conflict that lead to war will no longer prevail. George saw that trade prohibitions furthered elite rule, militarization, and a worldview of “them” versus “us.” George's great contribution was to see how these big issues of War and Peace bore directly upon the constellation of rules governing the relationship of people to planet, humans to humus, earthlings to earth. Social arrangements not based on the fundamental and equal human right to the earth lead inevitably to a gross imbalance of political power and thus to government corruption, odious public debt, war, and preparations for further war. Although he warned us of what might befall the United States if it took the imperialist path, George seemed hopeful that the highest and best moral purpose of our nation would prevail. The paper concludes with an assessment of contemporary devices that protect the interests of the few over the many—subsidies, the ballooning national debt, the ever‐widening wealth gap, megacities, and the full‐spectrum‐dominance objective of U.S. imperialism.     

John Dewey and Henry George: The Socialization of Land as a Prerequisite for a Democratic Public

John Dewey frequently praised Henry George, author of a plan to confiscate land values with a “single tax.” Scholars have failed to account for Dewey's support of George. Some have argued that it should not be taken seriously because it is at odds with their interpretation of Dewey's philosophy. This article demonstrates that Dewey perceived the socialization of land values as an essential step toward creating a true democracy. Furthermore, Dewey's interest in George was not an aberration; it was exemplary of his faith in ideology, theory, and transformative social policy. Despite contentions to the contrary, pragmatists of the early 20^th century never emphasized skepticism, moderation, or rote empiricism. In fact, Dewey embraced the philosophy of Henry George as a general theory of history of society. During the Great Depression, Dewey attacked the piecemeal reformism of the New Deal in favor of the comprehensive vision of Henry George.     

Henry George and Europe

A bstract . In the eyes of European scholars, publicists and politicians who studied Henry George's work, he, as a social philosopher , had adopted the position of the natural law philosophers of the 18th century. The latter inspired the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, as well as the poiitical philosophy of Jeffersonian democracy , the ethos of the 18th and 19th century pioneer settlers. George rejected Social Darwinism. He saw natural law as the only true and reliable basis for a just social order. Like Karl Marx he mastered Ricardian economics ; unlike Marx, George made two factors the basis of his system, labor and land. George saw that each person had a natural right —and a natural imperative for survival —to apply his or her productive capacity to the earth –as living space and as storehouse of nutrients and raw materials. The person-land relationship , he discovered, lay at the basis of human culture. And so the land's rent , now monopolized by the few, had to be appropriated to meet the needs of society, most efficiently and justly by a land value tax.