[Excerpt] [George’s] views led to the creation of single tax reform movements at the grassroots level in several western states in the United States as well as in Britain, Australia, Canada and continental Europe. Today, several economists and institutes continue to believe in the contemporary relevance of his ideas

Briggs, Vernon M

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

Cornell University ILR School 
DigitalCommons@ILR 
Articles and Chapters ILR Collection 
1999 
George’s Contribution to Political Economy 
Vernon M. Briggs 
Cornell University, vmb2@cornell.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles 
 Part of the Labor Relations Commons, Political Economy Commons, and the Taxation Commons 
Thank you for downloading an article from DigitalCommons@ILR. 
Support this valuable resource today! 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ILR Collection at DigitalCommons@ILR. It has been 
accepted for inclusion in Articles and Chapters by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@ILR. For more 
information, please contact catherwood-dig@cornell.edu. 
If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an 
alternate format, contact web-accessibility@cornell.edu for assistance. 
George’s Contribution to Political Economy 
Abstract 
[Excerpt] [George’s] views led to the creation of single tax reform movements at the grassroots level in 
several western states in the United States as well as in Britain, Australia, Canada and continental Europe. 
Today, several economists and institutes continue to believe in the contemporary relevance of his ideas. 
Keywords 
Henry George, political economy, property, taxation, Progress and Poverty 
Disciplines 
Labor Relations | Political Economy | Taxation 
Comments 
Suggested Citation 
Briggs, V. M. (1999). George’s contribution to political economy. [Electronic version]. In P. A. O’Hara (Ed.) 
Encyclopedia of political economy (pp. 397-398). New York, NY: Routledge. 
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/225/ 
Required Publisher Statement 
Reprinted with permission. 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/225 
i to low-paid jobs tends 
cessitate heterosexuality. 
irity linked to heterosex-
5 justification or rationale 
Dments in reproductive 
;i 1995). The challenges 
ty as well as gender, in 
:ness and avoiding false 
substantial. The study of 
ilies, subject to different 
lomic factors from those 
Id throw light on factors 
i task specialization and 
f labor. 
livision of labor; family 
;al economy: major con-
"eminization of poverty; 
usehold production and 
riage 
''omen's Role in Economic 
York: St Martin's Press, 
lard, D. (1992) Familiar 
v Analysis of Marriage in 
ern Societies, Cambridge: 
S. and Woolf, R. (1994) 
Home: Class, Gender and 
°rn Household, London: 
Vomeris Paid and Unpaid 
ansfer in Health Care and 
)hia: Temple University 
"Capitalism, Patriarchy 
l by Sex," Signs 1(3, part 
) "The Real Dualism of 
view of Radical Political 
7-83. 
'The Sexual Division of 
id Lesbian/Gay Libera-
arxist-Feminist Analysis 
of Sexuality in U.S. Capitalism," Review of 
Radical Political Economics 27(2): 1-37. 
Phillips, A. and Taylor, B. (1980) "Sex and 
Skill," Feminist Review 6: 79-88. 
Reskin, B. (ed.) (1984) Sex Segregation in the 
Workplace - Trends, Explanations, Remedies, 
Washington: National Academy Press. 
Rogers, B. (1980) The Domestication of Wo-
men: Discrimination in Developing Societies, 
London and New York: Tavistock. 
PRUE HYMAN 
George's contribution to 
political economy 
Born into an impoverished family in Philadel-
phia in 1839, Henry George was forced to drop 
out of school at the age of 14 and to work in a 
series of unskilled jobs for low wages for 
several years. Eventually he found his way to 
California and, as a result of self-education, 
secured a job as a journalist. As a consequence 
of these personal experiences during an era 
when the nation was rapidly industrializing, he 
was struck by the fact that, as the country 
became wealthier, the number of people living 
in poverty was increasing. 
Seeking to understand this paradox, George 
concluded that the natural right to private 
property - which was assumed by most 
economic writers - was absurd. Property, he 
felt, is the heritage of all people. The parallel 
increases of both poverty and economic pro-
gress were due to this previously unchallenged 
assumption about the merits of the private 
ownership of land. George's attack was an 
original perception to American writers up 
until this time. 
Publishing a pamphlet, Our Land and Land 
Policy in 1871, and his classic book, Progress 
and Poverty in 1879, he outlined his solution: a 
single tax on land. In these writings, he put 
forth the thesis that land rents and other 
income derived from the use of land and its 
natural resources only served to enrich a small 
number of wealthy landowners at the expense 
George's contribution to political economy 
of the welfare of the masses. Hence, the people 
who own the land could keep it, but all 
earnings above what they paid for the land 
could and should be taxed away. Such a tax on 
unearned profits would make all other taxes 
unnecessary and the proceeds could, in turn, be 
used to cure poverty. 
The rationale behind George's single tax 
theory was drawn from principles set forth 
earlier by David Ricardo and his classic theory 
of rent. Namely, it is not necessary for any 
price to exceed the cost it takes to bring an 
existing supply of a factor of production into 
the market place. If the price rises above that 
initial cost level, the entire increase can be 
taxed away without endangering the availabil-
ity of the factor. In the case of land, the supply 
is fixed; so, any increase in the value of the land 
or the resources found on that land can be 
taxed away in its entirety, without fear that the 
land's use or its original price will be affected. 
Moreover, the owner of the land cannot shift 
the tax on to consumers and must pay it 
entirely himself or herself. 
Progress and Poverty was read by millions 
around the world and elevated George to the 
status of one of the most distinguished political 
theorists of the late nineteenth century. John 
Dewey considered him to be one of the most 
influential political philosophers of all time. He 
had a significant impact on other major social 
reformers of his era, such as Leo Tolstoy and 
Lloyd George. On two occasions, George 
sought to be elected mayor of New York City. 
His first effort in 1886 was unsuccessful; during 
his second campaign, in 1897, he died of 
apoplexy only a few days before the election. 
His views led to the creation of single tax 
reform movements at the grassroots level in 
several western states in the United States as 
well as in Britain, Australia, Canada and 
continental Europe. Today, several economists 
and institutes continue to believe in the 
contemporary relevance of his ideas (see 
Gaffney and Harrison 1994a; Horner 1993). 
See also: 
collective social wealth; inequality 
397 
gifts 
Selected references 
Cord, Steven B. (1965) Henry George: Dreamer 
or Realist, Philadelphia: University of Penn-
sylvania Press. 
Gaffney, Mason and Harrison, Fred (1994a) 
The Corruption of Economics, London: 
Shepheard-Walwyn in association with the 
Centre for Incentive Taxation. 
(1994b) Land Speculation and the Business 
Cycle, London: Centre for Incentive Taxa-
tion. 
George, Henry (1879) Progress and Poverty, 
New York: Robert Schalkenbach Founda-
tion, 1962. 
(1898) Science of Political Economy, New 
York: Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 
1971. 
Horner, J.H. (1993) "Seeking Institutionalist 
Signposts in the Work of Henry George: 
Relevance Often Overlooked," American 
Journal of Economics and Sociology 52(2). 
VERNON M. BRIGGS, JR 
gifts 
Gifts raise a central question for the social 
sciences in general and economics in particular. 
Are people motivated by self-interest, or are 
they altruistic as well? Do people give because 
they expect to receive something of equal worth 
in return or not? Can people be conceived to be 
rational maximizers of their personal utility, or 
are they other-directed as well, at times? 
Probably the best answer to give for the last 
question is, "both." People can at times can be 
seen to be rational maximizers, and at times 
they may be altruistic or "give" for cultural 
and conventional reasons. Starting with the 
most notable writers on the topic, Mauss and 
Malinowski, and followed by other anthropol-
ogists, the topic of the gift has probably been 
one of the main reasons for the emancipation 
of anthropology as a science. The research of 
Mauss and Malinowski, published in the early 
decades of the twentieth century, has been a 
continuing source of inspiration for such 
398-
research. Mauss (1925: 1) poses the central 
question: "What is the principle whereby the 
gift received has to be repayed?" 
Gifts and exchanges 
Some have proposed principles, a few of which 
will be discussed here. All of these principles 
aim to explain how gift giving is different from 
pure market transactions or quid pro quos. 
Bourdieu (1990) proposes, following Mauss 
(1925: 35), that time should pass between 
giving and repaying a gift. Schwartz (1967) 
allows for more ways in which imbalances of 
debt, essential for gift giving according to him, 
may be created. 
Gift exchanges establish a relation between 
(at least) two people. According to Sahlins, 
there is a continuum of different types of 
exchanges between the giving of gifts on the 
one hand and pure market exchanges on the 
other. This is not a controversial position. 
What is controversial is to hold that gifts will 
not likely be exchanged with people that are 
farther removed from each other. Physical and 
cultural distance, but most importantly kinship 
distance, is what Sahlins has in mind. While De 
Swaan (1995) argued convincingly that identi-
fication between people at a distance is 
increasingly unlikely, and "global identifica-
tion" improbable, there are many examples 
that show the controversial nature of this 
assumption. The boundaries that distance 
creates or the "dynamics of competition and 
exclusion," as De Swaan calls it to relate to a 
key discussion in sociology, can be overcome. 
Message of the gift 
What Sahlin's argument points to in Stone Age 
Economics (1972), however, is a central issue in 
the discussion on gifts. Gifts convey a message; 
they are not "lifeless" objects. Gifts say what 
kind of person the giver is, and how he or she 
perceives the person who receives the gift (the 
majority of gifts are given and received by 
women). When the other party in the exchange 
is relatively unknown, the risk of misinterpre-
tation and insult is significant. Refraining from 
giving to a "stranger," or % 
impersonal, is the safe thing t 
Gifts thus help to establish , 
of reference (culture) needed 
others' behavior. Some argue t 
of reference is a prerequi; 
exchanges to occur. Mauss (1< 
market exchanges arose from { 
this respect, the observati( 
religious or family communiti 
with each other can be undi 
example, Fukuyama 1995). Le 
even contends that exchang 
important means by which tc 
between warring parties. Is 
example of the creation of \ 
being? 
Example of the potlatch 
One of the earliest example 
studied is the potlatch of th 
American Northwest (and s< 
pies). A potlatch (meaning ' 
feast or party given to celebrat 
occasion or problem, in whic 
away or destroyed some of hi; 
sions. Prestige was gained by t 
clan) in proportion to the am 
or squandered. People who 
surplus property repeatedly wi 
as chiefs or nobles. The potk 
not the great pacifier that gi 
sometimes thought to be; it is 
conspicuous giving of gifts t< 
archical order within groups, 
means of competing for sta 
1925; CONSPICUOUS CONSUMP 
LATION). 
Recent studies 
Over the years, different se 
exchange have been studied. G 
Jews during the Second World 
gifts and (gendered) patterns 
within the family and betwi 
examples. Komter (1996) pn 
overview of (excerpts from) c) 


George’s Contribution to Political Economy

[Excerpt] [George’s] views led to the creation of single tax reform movements at the grassroots level in several western states in the United States as well as in Britain, Australia, Canada and continental Europe. Today, several economists and institutes continue to believe in the contemporary relevance of his ideas.Briggs63_Georges_contribution_to_political_economy.pdf: 232 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Briggs, Vernon M.

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1227&amp;context=articles

George’s Contribution to Political Economy

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@ILR

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)