single tax single tax, originally a tax upon land values proposed as the sole source of government revenues, intended to replace all existing taxes. The term itself and the modern single-tax movement originated with the publication of the American economist Henry George’s Progress and Poverty in 1879. The proposal gained substantial support in subsequent decades and then gradually declined in popular appeal. Advocates argued that since land is a fixed resource, the economic rent is a product of the growth of the economy and not of individual effort; therefore society would be justified in recovering it to support the costs of

single tax single tax, originally a tax upon land values proposed as the sole source of government revenues, intended to replace all existing taxes. The term itself and the modern single-tax movement originated with the publication of the American economist Henry George’s Progress and Poverty in 1879. The proposal gained substantial support in subsequent decades and then gradually declined in popular appeal. Advocates argued that since land is a fixed resource, the economic rent is a product of the growth of the economy and not of individual effort; therefore society would be justified in recovering it to support the costs of