Progress & Poverty: part 1

Henry George's economic analysis of social inequity is just as vital today as it was 100 years ago. Wendell Fitzgerald, President of the Board of the San Francisco Henry George School, examines the profound affect of our real estate and tax systems on each of our lives, liberty, and politics, from George's perspective.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Henry
• George
• School
• economics
• progress
• poverty

[eagleboy333]

Amazing! such clarity in just 10 minutes.. give us more!!

[heliad]

posting part 2 now & hopefully 3 also today, thanks for watching! please subscribe.

[SingleTax]

I have all of Henry George's books, and have been promoting his Single Tax remedy (mostly to deaf ears) for a decade. I'm so glad to finally see something that newcomers can watch rather than read. Thanks very much for posting. :-)

[gwynedd1]

If we can't have this principle applied in a public way I wish private capital would build their own town and feed the real estate value. I don't know why big employers don't purchase housing sites on cheap land to capture the value they create. This would at least capture the full value of production. They could pay higher wages and get it back as rent. This would keep speculators from leaching their wage labor. The incentive to keep labor in good condition will be high.

[gwynedd1]

@WestPhillyCat

You don't even have the Georgist system correct which is to retain the private use of property and only the taxation of a ground rent. A total rent value tax is debatable but as the source of tax it is not. It uses the same principle as price discrimination only in this case its justified. Also I suppose you can argue over capital except that it has no meaning and its quite useless not to define products of labor and land value. That is why economics is broken.

[a46475]

@WestPhillyCat Capital is not a list of arbitrary pronouncements. Capital is a definition. Define 'capital' and see what qualifies and what doesn't qualify as capital. Labor with or without the help of capital creates wealth. If the purpose of this created wealth is to produce more wealth, it is CAPITAL. All capital is wealth but all wealth isn't capital. The earth isn't a fruit of human exertion so it isn't wealth and so cannot be capital.

[WestPhillyCat]

This is a poor discussion of economics! The fundamentals of economics are not land, labor and capital, but rather scarcity and choice! Your definition of capital is completely wrong. Capital INCLUDES labor and land amongst many other things. George's land tax based on the notion that land should be regarded as communal property would essentially be a return to the commons system, which was disastrous. The fact that George is even regarded as an economist is incredible; he was a journalist!

[bootiack]

geoism is awesome, better than democrat work welfare creatign pension and welfare wealth based equality ruining progress

[HGSChicago]

@butlmat To the extent that he personally partakes in his business (and most do, of course), an entrepreneur is a laborer. (Labor can be physical or mental.) And, to the extent any laborer provides his tools (which many do), he is a capitalist in the original sense. A homeowner is a kind of capitalist too, when you think about it.

Capitalism/entrep. can involve working with all three factors, but land is the most problematic and least widely distributed -- the problem HG was addressing.

[khataroo]

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world this would be. I am thrilled to see these videos. I took the Progress and Poverty class at the Henry George School in San Francisco a few years back and I tell you, it has never left my mind on how simple and reasonable a system it is. I totally agree with @ourearthhome comment's below. It would bring me much happiness to have these principles implemented.The truth is always a breath of fresh air.

[butlmat]

I like this idea and promise to learn more. One question. You say 3 factors of production are Land, Labor, and Capital. OK . I remember that from high school economics. You then say something like "When all those three are working together..." Well, in practice that never happens. It takes an entrepreneur or a capitalist to achieve that. The capitalist identifies the ideal combination of land, labor, and capital, correct? Maybe this changes nothing, but you would you comment?

[amafuji]

"People do not argue with the teachings of [Henry] George, they simply do not know it. And it is impossible to do otherwise with his teaching, for he who becomes acquainted with it cannot but agree. ...Solving the land question means the solving of all social questions."

-Leo Tolstoy

Thanks for speaking about George.