What do Economists Think about the Henry George Rule?
George’s Progress and Poverty was an all time best seller. But how much influence has George’s theory had? The Henry George Rule has won new support from economist in the last quarter century The Encyclopaedia Britannica, “few economists of reputation supported” his specific remedy – the single tax. “Nevertheless… his systematic economic analysis provided a stimulus to orderly reform.” W.E. Kuhn, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, wrote, ” What little recognition was given this self-taught economist by the profession, uneasy when stirred out of its complacency, was grudging, and certainly not a fair measure of his analytical competence.” (The Evolution of Economic Thought, p155) Mark Blaug, possibly the most influential historian of economic thinking, called Progress and Poverty a “wonderful example of old-style classical economics” , but he also said ” it was thirty years out of date the day it was published.” Flatters, Henderson and Mieszkowski produced the first