Georgism
Henry George championed the 'Single Tax' movement, proposing that all public revenue come from land value taxation. His ideas aimed to curb land speculation, reduce economic inequality, and eliminate inefficient taxes. George's 1886 New York mayoral campaign highlighted his ability to mobilize working-class support, though he never held office. His influence persists in economic policy debates worldwide, advocating for fairer tax systems without heavy government intervention.
What it believes
Land is the exception that explains everything: nobody made it, so its rent is unearned — tax that full value, untax wages and buildings entirely, and watch speculation die while work and improvement go free.
The appeal
It may be the most endorsed-across-enemies idea in economics — Friedman and Stiglitz both signed off — and every housing crisis re-teaches its point: your rent went up because of location value your landlord never created.
Where it breaks
The transition is the killer: land values capitalize a century of promises, so full taxation expropriates every mortgaged household at once — which is why a policy 'everyone' endorses governs almost nowhere beyond partial pilots.
Among its neighbours
The Liberal Capitalist above misses the land exception its symmetry requires. The Social Libertarian beside it would happily spend the dividend. Below, the Geo-Libertarian keeps the tax and shrinks everything else. Marketward, the Classical Liberal is the tradition George corrected.
Figures — real and imagined — who share the Georgism base ideology. They differ only on the third axis: from radical to restorationist, each is a different face of a Georgism.
The company you keep.
The social axis (progressive ↔ traditional) splits Georgism into nine named shades. Take the quiz to find out which one is yours.
- Radical Georgism
- Progressive Georgism
- Reformist Georgism
- Heterodox Georgism
- Georgism
- Rooted Georgism
- Traditional Georgism
- Reactionary Georgism
- Restorationist Georgism