Henry George and Clark's Paradigm

We begin this essay with an analysis of the criticism of orthodox economics from aphilosophy of science and methodological point of view. Rather than idealized models, acareless definition of ”capital” appears to be the problem. We owe this careless definitionto John Bates Clark (1847–1938). Clark introduced a new paradigm that proposed thatland is not a separate factor of production, but only a form of capital. His theory wasa reaction to the American economist and philosopher Henry George (1839–1879) whosold millions of books and was exceptionally popular. George advocated a substantialland value tax and influenced political debate for several decades in the Anglo-Saxonworld and elsewhere. We sketch George’s ideas in their historical context and give anoverview of his unappreciated impact on global scientific, political and cultural history.Finally, we also show George’s relevance in today’s world and provide a scientific andsocial critique of the Clark paradigm.