Progress and Poverty
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Progress and Poverty
Narrated by:
AI Voice Jason Smith
Buy Now for $24.22
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Narrated by:
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AI Voice Jason Smith
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By:
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Henry George
This title uses virtual voice narration
Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.
Summary
Why does poverty persist in societies that are becoming wealthier? How can technological progress, industrial expansion, and rising productivity coexist with economic inequality, low wages, and widespread hardship?
In Progress and Poverty, American economist and social reformer Henry George presents one of the most influential and thought-provoking works in the history of political economy. Challenging conventional explanations of wealth and poverty, George investigates the economic forces that determine how prosperity is created, distributed, and ultimately concentrated within society.
At the heart of his argument lies a striking paradox: as civilization advances and humanity becomes increasingly productive, the benefits of economic progress do not necessarily reach those whose labor makes prosperity possible. Instead, George argues that rising land values and the private appropriation of economic rent allow landowners to capture an increasing share of society's wealth, leaving workers and producers struggling to improve their living conditions.
Through a detailed examination of wages, capital, rent, population growth, and industrial development, George questions some of the fundamental assumptions of classical economics. Drawing upon the ideas of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill, he develops a distinctive theory of economic distribution and challenges the belief that poverty is an unavoidable consequence of population growth or technological change.
A profound exploration of the contradictions of modern prosperity, Progress and Poverty remains an essential classic for anyone seeking to understand the forces that shape economic inequality and the enduring struggle to reconcile material progress with social justice.
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