James Ahiakpor takes Roy Davidson to task for a supposedly superficial
reading of James's posts. But James himself admits to not having known
of Henry George's substantial _The Science of Political Economy_ (first
ed., 1897). His superficial acquaintance with George hasn't held him
back from proclaiming, in an earlier post, his confidence that he could
do with him what he has already so notably done for the world with that
other confused soul, John Maynard Keynes: debunk him.
But he has asked me for evidence that "there is much demand for such an
effort to take up documenting the sources of George's errors". There is
a voluminous literature on George. I'll mention two:
1. Robert V Andelson (ed.), _Critics of Henry George: A Centenary
Appraisal of their Strictures on "Progress and Poverty"_. (Cranbury, NJ:
Associated University presses, 1979). It has 27 chapters on such critics
as Marshall, Francis Walker, J B Clark, Seligman, Carver, Ely, and
Rothbart. Pat Gunning would particularly enjoy the paper by Aaron Fuller
on Herbert Davenport: "Single Taxer of the Looser Observance", which
nicely brings out the need to distinguish between what is true of the
individual entrepreneur (rent is a cost) and the society (rent is not a
cost).
2. Kenneth C Wenzer (ed.), _Land-Value Taxation: The Equitable and
Efficient Source of Public Finance_ (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1999).
This includes four chapters on George's modern relevance by Nobel
Laureate William Vickrey. Our friend Mason Gaffney also has a chapter on
"Tax Reform to Release Land".
Roger Sandilands
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