Henry George's Land Tax Ideas Were Ahead of His Time, Forgotten, and Due for a Comeback

Henry George was a famous 19th century economist who advocated taxing land and natural resources, but his ideas were later forgotten by mainstream economics.

Influential 20th century economists like Paul Samuelson left land and rent out of their elegant economic models, setting the discipline on the wrong course.

George's focus on taxing land rents appealed to both efficiency and social justice, solving the "problem of economics."

When George visited Australia, his support for free trade and attacks on protectionism made some suspicous of his land tax ideas.

Leading economists like Solow later admitted their models were flawed by not properly accounting for land and "monopoly rent," coming back to George's concepts.