Henry George - Journalist and Political Economist
Henry George stood at the center of the height of economic debate, a debate equivalent to that our nation is facing today. George made the argument that a sizeable portion of the wealth created by social and technological advances in a free market economy is captured by land owners and monopolists via economic rents, and that this concentration of unearned wealth is the root cause of poverty.
Born in September of 1839 in the modest 2-story brick home that is now the home of the Henry George Birthplace and Museum as well as office space of the Henry George Foundation of America and Center for the Study of Economics. George was a renowned journalist and political economist.
Henry George was raised in a modest middle class community, residing nearly a half mile away from where the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent insurmountable time attending lectures at the Franklin Institute, had an affinity for reading – history, travels and adventure, poetry, and later studies of political economy are evident.
Captivated by promises of “the new land of wealth” Henry George, then 16, positioned himself as a deckhand aboard the Hindoo voyaging from New York to Melbourne, Australia then on to Calcutta, India. Fourteen months at sea, disillusioned by the promises Australia and India once held, George returned to Philadelphia accepting work as an apprentice typesetter. Not more than three years past when George returned to the life of a seaman, eventually settling in San Francisco, California to work as a journeyman printer.
By 1871, George was editor of his own newspaper the San Francisco Daily Evening Post and active in local politics. He was critical of corrupt politicians, land speculators, and eventually sought but failed to gain the Democratic candidacy for the California state legislature.
“Why in a land so bountifully blest, with enough and more than enough for all, should there be such inequality of conditions? Such heaped wealth interlocked with such deep and debasing want? Why, amid such superabundance, should strong men vainly look for work? Why should women faint with hunger, and little children spend the morning of life in the treadmill of toil?” Henry George
George’s remedy published in 1879, Progress and Poverty was translated in at least 25 languages. His analysis of economic growth was widely influenced by the writings of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill and Thomas Robert Malthus.
Progress and Poverty placed him in demand as a writer and lecturer, George moved to New York 1880. His next publication, The Irish Land Question resulted in the Irish World newspaper sending George to Ireland and England from 1881-1882. George had gained the support of the United Labor Party that upon his return to New York urged him to run as their candidate for Mayor. George finish second in the poll with republican challenger Theodore Roosevelt finishing third.
Henry George had found his base in New York, toured England again in 1888 and 1889, received a warm welcome in Australia and New Zealand in 1890 and suffered a minor stroke in the winter of 1890-1891 yet continued to lecture and write.
- Protection or Free Trade (1886)
- An Open Letter to the Pope (1891)
- A Perplexed Philosopher (1892)
- The Science of Political Economy (1897)
By 1897, aged fifty-eight and in poor health, George allowed himself to be persuaded to run again for mayor, this time as an independent Democrat. At the very close of the campaign, on October 29, he suffered a stroke and died yet his idea then remains a remedy to our issues today.
Interested in learning more about Henry George’s proposed remedy? Click here
