The Insurgent as Ideologue: George L. Record and the Single Tax in Mexico. A Research Note

The career of G. Record illustrates the inadequacy of the usual criterion for evaluating political influence; Record, like other insurgents, eschewed conventional approaches & instead gave advice of a radical nature. First a liberal Republican, & later a Democrat, Record was outstanding amon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of economics and sociology 1976-07, Vol.35 (3), p.325-331
Main Author: Tobin, Eugene M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Democracy
Ideology/Ideologies/Ideological
Insurgence/Insurgency
Insurgency
Land/Lands
Liberalism
Mexico/Mexican/Mexicans
Political reform
Progressive Era
Railway systems
Reform/Reformed/Reformer/ Reformers/ Reformism/ Reformist/ Reformists/ Reforms
Single tax system
Suburbs
Tax/Taxes/Taxation
Taxation
Value/Values/Valuation/ Valuations
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Summary:The career of G. Record illustrates the inadequacy of the usual criterion for evaluating political influence; Record, like other insurgents, eschewed conventional approaches & instead gave advice of a radical nature. First a liberal Republican, & later a Democrat, Record was outstanding among turn of the century politicians in NJ & among the leaders of the progressive movement. Record's economic views in regard to Mexico are explored in this study. Influenced by H. George's proposals for a single land value tax as the foundation for taxation, Record carried on a lengthy correspondance with President W. Wilson & with Wilson's Secretary of State, advising each to establish in Mexico the land value tax as a means of reforming Mexican society & economics & as a means of development. Like others, Record viewed Mexico as a social laboratory in which the pursuit of economic & political democracy could be carried out. The land tax would be of benefit because it could be paid fairly by all, & because it would not discourage capital investment. The background for Record's proposals was America's intervention in the Mexican civil war. F. Hydoski.
ISSN:0002-9246
1536-7150
DOI:10.1111/j.1536-7150.1976.tb03017.x