Progress and Poverty · Theme
The Single Tax on Land Values
How Progress and Poverty develops The Single Tax on Land Values.
Proposes that taxing only the value of land (rent) is the just and efficient remedy to abolish poverty, stimulate production, simplify government, and restore economic equality.
Where it surfaces
- Preface to the Fourth Edition
Proposed as the simple and just method to abolish other taxes and restore common rights to land, benefiting all classes.
- Book V: The Problem Solved
The chapter presents the Single Tax as the comprehensive remedy for poverty and inequality, arguing that taxing land rent would fund public services and eliminate the need for other taxes.
- Book VI: The Remedy
The chapter proposes the single tax on land values as the remedy, arguing that it would abolish all other taxes and restore natural justice by making land common property.
- From Governmental Direction and Interference
The chapter concludes that the necessary social regeneration is encapsulated in the motto 'Land and Liberty!' hinting at the single tax remedy.
- From a More General Distribution of Land
Implicitly advocated as the only thoroughgoing remedy, in contrast to ineffective measures like subdivision or tenant right.
- II: The True Remedy
Although not named explicitly, the remedy of making land common property is the foundation for the single tax proposal developed later in the work.
- Book VII: Justice of the Remedy
The chapter focuses on the justice of implementing a single tax on land values as a remedy for poverty and inequality.
- III: Claim of Land Owners to Compensation
Implicitly advocated through the call for the people to resume ownership of land without compensating current holders.
- Book VIII: Application of the Remedy
The chapter details the application of the single tax as the just and practical remedy for economic inequality.
- I: Private Property in Land Inconsistent with the Best Use of Land
Implicitly supports the idea of appropriating land rent for public benefit, as illustrated by the San Francisco lot whose rent goes to the school fund.
- II: How Equal Rights to the Land May Be Asserted and Secured
George proposes appropriating rent through taxation as the simple, sovereign remedy for poverty and economic inequality.
- The Proposition Tried by the Canons of Taxation
The chapter argues that taxing land values is the best tax, conforming to all canons of taxation, and would replace all other taxes.
- I: The Effect of Taxes Upon Production
The chapter argues that a tax on land value is the best tax because it does not discourage production and can even stimulate it by eliminating speculative rent.
- II: As to Ease and Cheapness of Collection
The chapter advocates for substituting all other taxes with a single tax on land values, emphasizing its ease of collection and economic efficiency.
- III: As to Certainty
The chapter advocates for a tax on land values as the most certain and least arbitrary form of taxation.
- As to Equality
The chapter presents the single tax on land values as the most just and equal tax, because it captures for the community the value that the community itself creates.
- Endorsements and Objections
George argues that a single tax on land values is the best method of raising public revenues, endorsed by classical economists and the Physiocrats.
- Book IX: Effects of the Remedy
The chapter details the anticipated effects of the single tax remedy on poverty, depressions, and social progress.
- Of the Effect Upon the Production of Wealth
The chapter is a detailed argument for substituting all other taxes with a single tax on land values, claiming it would unleash production and end land speculation.
- II: Of the Effect Upon Distribution and Thence Upon Production
The proposed remedy of shifting all public burdens to a tax on land values is the core policy discussed.
- Of the Effect Upon Individuals and Classes
The chapter details the proposed single tax on land values and its anticipated benefits for all classes, including homestead owners and working farmers.
- Of the Changes That Would Be Wrought in Social Organization and Social Life
The chapter details how the single tax would simplify government, reduce crime, and fund public goods, serving as the core remedy for social ills.
- Conclusion
The chapter reiterates the single tax as the comprehensive remedy for poverty and inequality, arguing that taxing land values would abolish all other taxes and restore natural rights.
