The Henry George Foundation

Henry George: The Ascent to the Good through Justice

Joseph Milne

Paper given to the Henry George Foundation 25th June 2010

Henry George and the Financial Crisis

Henry George's teaching  was not just restricted to the single tax issue. It extended to many areas of political economy and included the question of the issuance of money which lies at the heart of the present financial crisis. In this extract he states clearly his views on the injustice of handing over the privilege of issuing money to private institutions:

..... it is the business of government to issue money. This is perceived as soon as the great labour-saving invention of money supplants barter. To leave it to everyone who choses to do so to issue money would be to entail general inconvenience and loss, to offer many temptations to roguery, and to put the poorer classes of society at a great disadvantage. These obvious considerations have everywhere, as society became well organized, led to the recognition of the coinage of money as an exclusive function of government.

American Congressman advocates a return to Government Issued Money

Courageous Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich, speaking on the BBC's Today programme on December 17th advocated using Government-issued money spent into circulation for infrastructure rather than burdensome bank-created interest bearing debt as the way out to the present crisis.