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Henry George’s Land Reform: The Distinction between Private Ownership and Private Possession
Author(s) -
Pullen John
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/1536-7150.00074
Subject(s) - possession (linguistics) , land tenure , george (robot) , nonpossessory interest in land , land reform , private property , economics , ideology , institution , land law , law , law and economics , business , market economy , political science , politics , agriculture , geography , history , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , art history
Henry George stated that the taxation of land rent would amount to the abolition of the institution of private ownership of land, thereby alienating all those who, whether for economic or ideological reasons, regard the private ownership of land as essential for social order and progress. George believed that under his proposed reform the private ownership of land would be replaced by private possession. But his distinction between ownership and possession appears to have been based on a misconception of the nature of private ownership. His proposed reform could have been more logically described as a conditional, modified, or restricted private ownership of land, rather than as the abolition of private ownership of land.