195. Monopoly! The Real Story Behind America's Most Popular Game

For today’s episode, Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists, explains how Monopoly began as a Georgist teaching tool. In 1904 Lizzie Magie patented The Landlord’s Game to show what happens when land rent goes to owners instead of the community. The game spread through single tax circles for thirty years before Charles Darrow sold it to Parker Brothers as his own.Mary Pilon is a New York Times bestselling author, an investigative journalist and an Emmy-nominated filmmaker. She was a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal.To explore more of our content, including research, policy and tools, visit our website at hgsss.org.

For today’s episode, Evan Atlas introduces Prosperity, a digital version of The Landlord’s Game, and discusses the history of Lizzie Magie’s original Georgist board game. He explains why both Magie and he see games as powerful educational tools.Evan Atlas is an interdisciplinary philosopher, writer, entrepreneur, and game designer. He is the author of three books and writes Mapping with Atlas on Substack. His work explores how we can create more meaningful and purposeful lives across game theory, psychology, ethics, complex systems, metamodernism, personal development, and spiritual growth.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: https://www.hgsss.org/

For today’s episode, Edward Dodson discusses what he sees as the systemic problems facing the American economy and society. He proposes unique solutions that require thinking and action, which to this point have escaped not only most elected officials but also economists and other social thinkers.Mr. Dodson attended Shippensburg University and Temple University where he received an economics degree. Ed worked for Fannie Mae, a public-private partnership to help distribute home mortgage loans. During his time at Fannie Mae, Mr. Dodson held numerous management and analyst positions within the Housing & Community Development group, helping revitalize neighborhoods and local communities. This gives him an interesting perspective on land use and reform, and how it can reduce inequality. He also has extensive experience as a history lecturer at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute and the Learning is For Everyone program at Burlington County College. Edward has written many papers on history and the political economy and is the author of a three-volume book series titled The Discovery of First Principles.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

For today’s episode, panelists Lucas Bernard, Stephen Giannetti, Sean Hagen, Caridad Muñoz, and Dr. Marty Rowland weigh in on the future impact of AI adoption and whether it will bring more progress or poverty.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

For today’s episode, Edward Dodson examines the evolution in King’s thinking on how to address the issue of extreme poverty and the major ideas and events that influenced his life and work.Mr. Dodson attended Shippensburg University and Temple University where he received an economics degree. Ed worked for Fannie Mae, a public-private partnership to help distribute home mortgage loans. During his time at Fannie Mae, Mr. Dodson held numerous management and analyst positions within the Housing & Community Development group, helping revitalize neighborhoods and local communities. This gives him an interesting perspective on land use and reform, and how it can reduce inequality. He also has extensive experience as a history lecturer at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute and the Learning is For Everyone program at Burlington County College. Edward has written many papers on history and the political economy and is the author of a three-volume book series titled The Discovery of First Principles.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

For today’s episode, Greg Miller and Lars Doucet from the Center for Land Economics discuss vacant land being undervalued in Baltimore compared to utilized lots and what the mismatches mean for speculation, development, and fairness.Greg Miller is Co-Founder of the Center for Land Economics. He brings experience from his role as a Program Analyst in the Office of Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After his time at HUD, he co-founded a startup focused on applying AI to make government more accessible. He holds degrees in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame.Lars Doucet is Co-Founder of the Center for Land Economics. He has decades of experience in software development. He was previously an indie game developer before co-founding ValueBase, a property assessment technology startup. As the former Chief Product Officer, he developed cutting-edge tools for accurate land value estimation. His book “Land is A Big Deal” has become a cornerstone text in contemporary discussions of land value taxation.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

For today’s episode, four panelists (Prof. Hironori Washizaki, Prof. Willi Semmler, Prof. Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan, and Tato Khundadze) take part in a discussion on the extent of AI adoption in Japan, Germany, Armenia, and Georgia, who is truly benefitting from it, and what can be done to ensure that the technological progress is shared with everyone.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Professor John Muellbauer is a Senior Research Fellow of Nuffield College and a Senior Fellow of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Econometric Society. He is best known for his work on household economics, housing markets, and on finance-real economy interactions. He has worked with many central banks and the OECD and is a frequent contributor to CEPR's VoxEU columns.Together, we discussed how booming house and land prices can distort productivity, deepen inequality, and shape the wider economy through banking and credit cycles.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠https://www.hgsss.org/

For today’s episode, Honey B. Blues leads a discussion on what was lost when only the "winner-take-all" version of Lizzie Magie's The Landlord's Game was commercialized.Honey B. Blues is an independent economic researcher and the author of the upcoming book Independent Economics: The People’s Guide to Moral Wealth and Perpetual Prosperity. Her work focuses on rediscovering forgotten economic ideas— especially the lost vision of Lizzie Magie — and translating them into practical, non-speculative savings systems for ordinary Americans. Blues’ research centers on moral wealth, community resilience, and perpetually circulating financial models that reduce dependence on unstable markets.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

For today’s episode, Ed Dodson leads a discussion on Robert Morris, an American patriot in Revolutionary America.The origin story of the United States of America is filled with numerous twists and turns. The fact that the people and leaders of the 13 British colonies managed to earn their independence from the 18th century’s most powerful naval and land power was anything but certain. However, winning independence required an army and a navy, as well as the capacity to provide all the goods necessary to match the enemy. In this lecture series, we present and discuss the role of Robert Morris, an American patriot who made it his life mission to coordinate and mobilize resources even when cooperation among the 13 States was difficult.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.hgsss.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠