Progress and Poverty
Why does grinding poverty deepen in step with industrial wealth? Henry George set out to answer that paradox in 1879, and the book that resulted became one of the best selling works of economics of its century. George argues that the value created by a growing society flows not to workers or businesses but to those who own land, whose rents rise simply because others build and labor around them. His remedy, a single tax on the value of land, aimed to fund government while ending speculation and freeing wages. Written in clear, forceful prose that reached ordinary readers, it launched a worldwide reform movement and still shapes debates over land, rent, and inequality. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.
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Progress and Poverty (1879) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 00 - Frontmatter, How the Book Came To Be Written, and Preface | 23:48 | |
| 2 | 01 - Introductory | 22:04 | |
| 3 | 02 - Book I, Chapter 1: The Current Doctrine of Wages - Its Insufficiency | 26:42 | |
| 4 | 03 - Book I, Chapter 2: The Meaning of the Terms | 37:49 | |
| 5 | 04 - Book I, Chapter 3: Wages Not Drawn from Capital, but Produced by the Labor - paragraphs 1-25 | 28:19 | |
| 6 | 05 - Book I, Chapter 3: Wages Not Drawn from Capital, but Produced by the Labor - paragraphs 26-38 | 14:20 | |
| 7 | 06 - Book I, Chapter 4: The Maintenance of Laborers Not Drawn from Capital | 18:03 | |
| 8 | 07 - Book I, Chapter 5: The Real Functions of Capital | 17:44 | |
| 9 | 08 - Book II, Chapter 1: The Malthusian Theory, Its Genesis and Support | 25:28 | |
| 10 | 09 - Book II, Chapter 2: Inferences from Facts - paragraphs 1-19 | 21:30 | |
| 11 | 10 - Book II, Chapter 2: Inferences from Facts - paragraphs 20-40 | 34:42 | |
| 12 | 11 - Book II, Chapter 3: Inferences from Analogy | 21:14 | |
| 13 | 12 - Book II, Chapter 4: Disproof of the Malthusian Theory | 22:51 | |
| 14 | 13 - Book III, Chapter 1: The Inquiry Narrowed to the Laws of Distribution - The Necessary Relation of These Laws | 23:37 | |
| 15 | 14 - Book III, Chapter 2: Rent and the Law of Rent | 16:25 | |
| 16 | 15 - Book III, Chapter 3: Of Interest and the Cause of Interest | 31:43 | |
| 17 | 16 - Book III, Chapter 4: Of Spurious Capital and of Profits Often Mistaken for Interest | 12:08 | |
| 18 | 17 - Book III, Chapter 5: The Law of Interest | 17:01 | |
| 19 | 18 - Book III, Chapter 6: Wages and the Law of Wages | 26:09 | |
| 20 | 19 - Book III, Chapter 7: The Correlation and Co-ordination of These Laws | 4:24 | |
| 21 | 20 - Book III, Chapter 8: The Statics of the Problem Thus Explained | 7:21 | |
| 22 | 21 - Book IV, Chapter 1: The Dynamics of the Problem Yet to Seek | 6:11 | |
| 23 | 22 - Book IV, Chapter 2: The Effect of Increase of Population Upon the Distribution of Wealth | 27:51 | |
| 24 | 23 - Book IV, Chapter 3: The Effect of Improvements in the Arts upon the Distribution of Wealth | 21:45 | |
| 25 | 24 - Book IV, Chapter 4: Effect of the Expectation Raised by Material Progress | 11:25 | |
| 26 | 25 - Book V, Chapter 1: The Primary Cause of Recurring Paroxysms of Industrial Depression | 38:53 | |
| 27 | 26 - Book V, Chapter 2: The Persistence of Poverty Amid Advancing Wealth | 29:17 | |
| 28 | 27 - Book VI, Chapter 1: Insufficiency of Remedies Currently Advocated - paragraphs 1-22 | 23:11 | |
| 29 | 28 - Book VI, Chapter 1: Insufficiency of Remedies Currently Advocated - paragraphs 23-54 | 37:34 | |
| 30 | 29 - Book VI, Chapter 2: The True Remedy | 4:52 | |
| 31 | 30 - Book VII, Chapter 1: The Injustice of Private Property in Land | 30:10 | |
| 32 | 31 - Book VII, Chapter 2: The Enslavement of Laborers the Ultimate Result of Private Property in Land | 22:35 | |
| 33 | 32 - Book VII, Chapter 3: Claim of Land Owners to Compensation | 20:53 | |
| 34 | 33 - Book VII, Chapter 4: Property in Land Historically Considered | 35:24 | |
| 35 | 34 - Book VII, Chapter 5: Of Property in Land in the United States | 20:38 | |
| 36 | 35 - Book VIII, Chapter 1: Private Property in Land Inconsistent with the Best Use of Land | 12:33 | |
| 37 | 36 - Book VIII, Chapter 2: How Equal Rights to the Land May Be Asserted and Secured | 11:12 | |
| 38 | 37 - Book VIII, Chapter 3: The Proposition Tried by the Canons of Taxation | 28:44 | |
| 39 | 38 - Book VIII, Chapter 4: Indorsements and Objections | 16:15 | |
| 40 | 39 - Book IX, Chapter 1: Of the Effect Upon the Production of Wealth | 13:36 | |
| 41 | 40 - Book IX, Chapter 2: Of the Effect Upon Distribution and Thence Upon Production | 14:06 | |
| 42 | 41 - Book IX, Chapter 3: Of the Effect Upon Individuals and Classes | 13:50 | |
| 43 | 42 - Book IX, Chapter 4: Of the Changes That Would Be Wrought in Social Organization and Social Life | 37:43 | |
| 44 | 43 - Book X, Chapter 1: The Current Theory of Human Progress - Its Insufficiency | 29:35 | |
| 45 | 44 - Book X, Chapter 2: Differences in Civilization - To What Due | 33:47 | |
| 46 | 45 - Book X, Chapter 3: The Law of Human Progress - paragraphs 1-21 | 16:27 | |
| 47 | 46 - Book X, Chapter 3: The Law of Human Progress - paragraphs 22-47 | 29:36 | |
| 48 | 47 - Book X, Chapter 4: How Modern Civilization May Decline | 36:12 | |
| 49 | 48 - Book X, Chapter 5: The Central Truth | 18:53 | |
| 50 | 49 - Conclusion: The Problem of Individual Life | 22:43 |
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