Progress and Poverty · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Progress and Poverty by Henry George.

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Chapter 1
Epigraph
The epigraph sets a somber tone, reflecting on the disillusionment of an age where promised progress has not materialized, yet affirms that the faith in a better future was not in vain.
Chapter 2
Dedication
The author dedicates the work to those who recognize the social ills caused by inequality and who strive for a better society.
Chapter 3
Epigraph
The epigraph sets a somber tone, reflecting on the disillusionment of an age where promised progress has not materialized, yet affirms that the faith in a better future was not in vain.
Chapter 4
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Henry George outlines the development of his economic arguments, beginning with a critique of the wage fund doctrine and Malthusian theory, then establishing the laws of distribution—rent, wages, and interest—and showing how material progress increases rent while suppressing wages and interest. He identifies private property in land as the root cause of poverty and industrial depressions, proposes the single tax on land values as the remedy, and argues that this reform aligns with moral law and social progress. He also notes the Irish land agitation as contemporary evidence supporting his views.
Chapter 5
Progress and Poverty
The chapter introduces the central paradox of modern civilization: the simultaneous increase of wealth and poverty. It sets up the inquiry into the cause of industrial depressions and the persistence of want amid progress, and previews the search for a remedy.

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