The Henry George Essay Competition is sponsored by the Economics and Finance Department and the Finance Club of the University: of Scranton and is funded through a grant from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.

Purpose

To promote an understanding of economic and social justice issues identified with the writings and philosophy of Henry George, a 19^th century economist best known for his book Progress and Poverty.

Eligibility

Entries are welcome from undergraduate students – regardless of their major field of study – enrolled at any institution of higher education in Pennsylvania that houses a local chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE) or whose faculty includes at least one member of the Pennsylvania Economic Association (PEA). Previous winners of the competition are not eligible to compete again.

Award

The winner of the Henry George Essay Competition will receive a prize of $1,000 and will be invited to present his/her essay at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Economic Association.  The winning essay will be published in the Proceedings of the PEA Annual Conference.

Format

Essays must be no longer than 25 pages (including references), typed and double-spaced in 12 point type.  Margins should be 1” on all sides.  Essays should follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing references. 

Judging

Three copies of each essay must be mailed to:

Chair, Department of Economics and Finance
University of Scranton
Scranton, PA 18510-4602

Entries must be postmarked by by April 21, 2007; the winning entry will be announced May 5th.  No email submissions will be allowed.  The chair will remove the title pages from the submissions and assign an identifying number to each essay.   Three other individuals will serve as judges.   Judges will not know the identities of the essay writers nor their affiliations until the judging is completed and the winning essay is selected. 

Judging Criteria

Essays should involve some aspect of economics or social justice consistent with the philosophy and writings of Henry George Possible topic areas are listed below.  Judging will be based on the following criteria:

1. Content (70 percent).  The essay must demonstrate an understanding of economic concepts and their relevance to the work of Henry George.
2. Grammar, sentence structure and spelling (15 percent).
3. Presentation (15 percent).  The essay must be clearly written with references properly cited.

Possible Essay Topics

• Land use and taxation
• Taxation of labor and capital
• Economic growth and development
• Crime and punishment
• Political and historical factors in economic growth and development
• The role of government in public affairs
• Ethics and economic behavior
• Corporate and social responsibility
• Technology and economic growth
• The economics of environmental issues
• Economic policy and poverty
• Other topics consistent with the philosophy and writings of Henry George.
  

For more on the life and writings of Henry George visit:

The Robert Schalkenbach Foundation