Question

15.    Henry George (1839-1897) published Progress and Poverty in 1879 – in which he

         a.      attacked capitalism as a hindrance to progress and the cause of poverty.

         b.      argued that all economic rent is an unearned income.

         c.       advocated taxing all types of income equally.

         d.      all of the above.

Answer 1

The answer is (a) attacked capitalism as a hindrance to progress and the cause of poverty as in the book George makes the case for the increased economic rent of the landlords (capitalists) growing at a rate faster than overall wealth and thus less remaining to pay as wages. Thus, there is poverty due to capitalism.

(b) is wrong as he argued that some of economic rent is unearned income, not all

(c) is wrong as he advocated a single tax for all the unearned economic rent