# Progress and Poverty by Henry George

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Progress and Poverty by Henry George and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as an accessible explanation of how capitalism and land values work, and as a book whose ideas still hold up for the modern economy.

## Why people recommend it

- Clear for non-economists (3 comments): "I recommend you read “progress and poverty” to get a better understanding of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49837810)) "the book Progress and Poverty by Henry George is pretty accessible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48543275)) "made capitalism itself legible enough to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49642935))
- Proposes a concrete solution (3 comments): "Henry George wrote down exactly what to do 130 years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997041)) "The book Progress and Poverty argues this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48241688)) "For the solution, read Henry George!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48668372))
- Ideas still hold up (2 comments): "It's a really incredible book, and I think you may be surprised the elegance with which it still "handles" a modern economy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49618724)) "His 'land theory of everything' predicted continued increasing rents, decreasing interest rates, low real wages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304397))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century.md): 12 recommend
- [Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-nations-fail.md): 9 recommend
- [Free to Choose by Milton Friedman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/free-to-choose.md): 5 recommend
- [Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism.md): 5 recommend
- [Trade Wars are Class Wars by Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/trade-wars-are-class-wars.md): 4 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0911312587?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780911312584) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Progress and Poverty by Henry George", https://hackerapproved.com/p/progress-and-poverty/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).