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George, Henry

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1839–97, American economist, founder of the single tax movement, b. Philadelphia. Of a poor family, his formal education was cut short at 14, and in 1857 he emigrated to California; there he worked at various occupations before turning to newspaper writing in San Francisco. George's experience in a number of trades, his desperate poverty while supporting a family, and the examples of financial rapacity that came to his attention as wage earner and newspaperman gave impetus to his reformist tendencies. George believed that an increase in poverty accompanied and even surpassed the increase in national wealth. He believed that the answer to this seeming paradox lay in the fact that the rental of land and the unearned increase in land values profited a few individuals rather than the community whose existence made the land valuable. He believed that a single tax on land would meet all the costs of government and even leave a surplus, besides unburdening labor and capital of taxes on their…
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Full text Article George, Henry

From The Great American History Fact-Finder
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Full text Article George, Henry (1839–1897), philosopher and reformer.

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History
Henry George won international repute with his book Progress and Poverty (1879), in which he argued that a single tax on land would alleviate poverty and stabilize republican government. George, the son of a middle-class bookseller, was born on 2 September 1839 in Philadelphia. Largely…
| 370 words
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Full text Article Henry George (1839–1897)

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
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Full text Article George

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary Full text Article Biographical Names
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Full text Article WORK

From Collins Dictionary of Quotations
[On leaving his post as US Secretary of State, 1952] I will undoubtedly have to seek what is happily known as gainful employment, which I am glad to say does not describe holding public office. [Attr.] How can I take an interest in my work when I don’t like it? [Attr.] The price one pays for…
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Full text Article Single-Tax Movement

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History
The single-tax movement was inspired by the plan of the San Francisco journalist and political economist Henry George (1839–1897), articulated first in an 1871 pamphlet and then in Progress and Poverty (1879), to return the profits of growth to society by imposing a uniform land tax that would end…
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Full text Article George, Henry

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
(born Sept. 2, 1839, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Oct. 29, 1897, New York, N.Y.) U.S. land reformer and economist. He left school before age 14 to work as a clerk and then at sea. In 1858 George went to California, where he worked for newspapers (briefly founding his own) and took part in Democratic…
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Full text Article George, Henry

From Encyclopedia of American Literature Full text Article Volume 2
(b. 1839–d. 1897) American economist, editor So long as all the increased wealth which modern progress brings goes but to build up great fortunes, to increase luxury and make sharper the contrast between the House of Have and the House of Want, progress is not real and cannot be permanent. —Progress…
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Full text Article George, Henry

From American Biographies: American Social Leaders and Activists
After losing his job during the depression of the...
(b. 1839–d. 1897) economic theorist A Progressive reformer, Henry George devised a single-tax scheme that changed the way many Americans looked at their economy. He was born on September 2, 1839, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Richard George, a shipmaster, and Mary Reid George. Henry George…
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Full text Article George, Henry

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1839–97, American economist, founder of the single tax movement, b. Philadelphia. Of a poor family, his formal education was cut short at 14, and in 1857 he emigrated to California; there he worked at various occupations before turning to newspaper writing in San Francisco. George's experience in a…
| 373 words
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