Progress and poverty
an inquiry into the cause of industrial depressions and of increase of want with increase of wealth; the remedy
by Henry George · first published 1879
56% recommend44% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Clear, lucid argument that land rent absorbs rising wealth and drives poverty and land speculation, making the case for a land value tax. Suits readers puzzled by housing costs and homelessness amid growth.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…funnel all increases in income to landowners as rent. I was not familiar with this theory until a few days ago, when someone here on HN linked to an online version (edited and abridged) of Henry George's Progress and Poverty [0]. I've been reading it since; its clarity is stunning: I feel as if a great veil has been lifted from my eyes. Whether I'll still feel that way in a few days, months, or years remains to be seen,…
on “Why Americans Work So Much Despite Keynes's Prediction” ↗Arbitrary titles granted to someone that allows them to control a piece of the Earth in perpetuity? That doesn't strike you as a recipe for disaster and inequality? For a full answer, try: "Progress and Poverty" by Henry George.
on “Apple Loses German Top Court Case on Swipe-to-Unlock Patent” ↗For other readers (I assume you've read it or are aware of it), I really highly recommend at least skimming Progress and Poverty by Henry George [PDF: http://www.henrygeorge.org/pdfs/PandP_Drake.pdf] It's mindblowing in its simplicity and how obvious it is in retrospect. Essentially that rent, so private land ownership, is the…
on “The best cities to get ahead are often the most expensive places to live (2014)” ↗…their labour. As you note if you have money you can get more of it because you can leverage it. But that's only part of the picture. I'd encourage everyone to read the above link and also Henry George "progress and poverty" http://www.amazon.com/Progress-Poverty-Industrial-Depression...
on “What happens when a culture is driven by the need for money to make more money” ↗To be clear, it's not house prices that are the problem—it's land prices. The problem and its solution were identified by Henry George in his book Progress and Poverty (1879). Seriously, look him up. It's a shame that his work is not better known. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_and_Poverty
on “Housing Costs Reduce the Return to Education” ↗Everybody on this thread should spend the next five minutes reading about Henry George, his historic work "Progress and Poverty" and the Single Tax: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_and_Poverty An except from his book: "Take now... some hard-headed business man, who has…
on “Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point” ↗Nope this guy has a good job. Not about mobility. This is about rentiers. People need to read "Progress and poverty" by Henry George. Land prices are the issue.
on “Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America” ↗Came here to upvote anybody who mentioned Henry George and the land value tax. Can't believe I'm the first one in this thread. Read Progress and Poverty, he predicted it all over 100 years ago, and provided the solution. https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/george-progress-and-povert...
on “Home Price to Income Ratio” ↗…system: they're non-excludable. Anyone can breathe the air or attend public schools, but someone has to keep the air clean and provide public schools. Beyond this, I recommend reading Henry George's Progress and Poverty, as well as Das Kapital by Karl Marx. But what it comes to is that in the great struggle between Capital and Labor, or Property and Energy, capital is by nature very excludable, while Labor (lacking…
on “How the Rich Got Rich” ↗…choice but to rent from them, for one needs a place to sleep, grow food, and to just stand! Please read http://geolib.com/essays/sullivan.dan/royallib.html, or as ethanbond recommends in another comment, Progress and Poverty by Henry George.
on “The best cities to get ahead are often the most expensive places to live (2014)” ↗…various subsidies. People are behaving as-if they can depend on rising wages when there's only been the one spot of rising wages in the late '90s, since 1980. I think you're close, but take a look at "Progress and Poverty" by Henry George. The problem is the failure to capture rents through taxation.
on “Falling Home Prices Could Be a Good Thing” ↗Henry George, Progress and Poverty. http://www.henrygeorge.org/pdfs/PandP_Drake.pdf His ideas are fabulous, but that aside reading it is a joy. He truly has a love for his fellow man that transcends all the usual pity-via-charity and…
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗George himself is extremely readable. "Social Problems", or his enormously popular "Progress and Poverty" are good introductions. If that seems a bit too much, I recommend first essay in Robert de Fremery's "Rights vs. Privileges" as a short overview of George's concepts.[0] [0] https://books.google.com/books/about/Rights_vs_privileges.ht...
on “Cracking the Mystery of Labor's Falling Share of GDP” ↗If you are truly interested in the moral and economic arguments around this topic, i strongly recommend Progress and Poverty from henry george from before the 1900's. With that in your arsenal you understand that this is a political issue.
on “The Great American Single-Family Home Problem” ↗If interested in urbanization and the particular problems SF is running into today, I would highly recommend Progress & Poverty by Henry George. Fairly dense at first but it lightens up. It was written in SF post-gold rush to answer the question of why the obscene wealth generated by the gold rush resulted in abysmal quality of life and skyrocketing inequality in SF. Sadly relevant these days.
on “Ask HN: If you could work remote where would you live?” ↗