Apr 22 Mon 6 PM: How I made $1,000,000 in Chicago real estate: I $tole it from you

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Administrator

image credit: elycefeliz via flickr (cc)

What George Menninger did was completely legal. He stole over a million dollars. Many people do it, perhaps including some of your neighbors; if George hadn’t then someone else would have.

You and fellow Chicagoans have already paid George so he is far beyond the need to earn a living. Now he volunteers some of his time as an instructor at the Henry George School. At this presentation you’ll learn exactly what he stole, how he did it, and how the community could have prevented it. You’ll also learn the costs of continuing larceny, in terms of poverty, unemployment, violence, and high cost of living.

Tonight’s presentation is entirely free and without obligation. At the conclusion, if you choose, you may enroll in the Progress & Poverty course George teaches over the following four Wednesday evenings.

Spring schedule is posted

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Administrator

image credit: Jael Herrera via flickr(cc)

Our spring term schedule, posted here, features two sections of Progress & Poverty, plus advanced courses. As previously posted, it’s now possible to get college credit for Henry George School classes.

We’ll also have films, discussions, talks and tours– the whole schedule will be posted over the coming days, or you can phone 312 450 2906 to have a paper copy mailed.

Welcome to 2013: Winter course schedule includes a morning class

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Administrator

image credit: stockmonkeys.com via flickr (cc)

This winter we offer five classes, including three sections of Progress & Poverty, and two advanced courses: Human Rights and After the Crash. The full schedule with link to preregistration is here.

If this is your first time at the Henry George School, you should begin with Progress & Poverty. You’ll gain a new perspective on how the economy works, learn the root cause of today’s economic difficulties, and develop an understanding of key concepts. Progress & Poverty comes in two versions, Classic and Modern, covering essentially the same material but with differences in depth and pace. This term, the classic version meets Friday mornings and the modern version Tuesday afternoons or Wednesday evenings.

If you don’t care to enroll in Progress & Poverty at this time, you’ll still be welcome to attend our lectures, movies, tours and discussions, all of which will be shown on the Events page. We do also have other prerequisite-free courses which will be offered later in 2013.

Finally! College credit for Henry George School courses!

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Administrator

image credit: Kevin Miller (KM Photography) via flickr (cc)

Many of our students remark that, even though they may have college degrees in economics or other social sciences, they learned important things with us that should have been, but never were discussed in their regular college classes. Occasionally we’ve even had a student manage, with the help of a thoughtful college instructor, to get college credit for a Henry George School class.

Now, through the Herculean efforts of the Henry George Institute, our courses can be “recommended for credit” by the National College Credit Recommendation Service. There are, of course, some special restrictions and difficulties. First, you need to take all three courses in our “principles of political economy” sequence (Progress & Poverty, Applied Economics/International Trade, Economic Science).

Second, you must study with an accredited HGS instructor (not all are yet), but this can generally be arranged regardless of who the scheduled instructor may be. Third, you must pass an examination. Fourth, there is a cost, $250 beyond the regular $25/course HGS registration fee. This money goes to the Henry George Institute (who expended cash as well as much effort to make it possible), and is less than just about any public or private college would charge for equivalent credits.

What you get, upon completing the above, is a recommendation for awarding of 3 credit hours. We think all colleges will accept this, but because it is a new program we cannot be certain and we encourage you to check with your accredited institution first. Some additional details are here.

Oct 5 Friday 6:00: Poverty, Liberation, & Land Reform course begins

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Administrator

Photo of rice farming in Kenya courtesy of Gates Foundation (cc) via Flickr

Designed by Lindy Davies of the Henry George Institute and formerly taught by our late instructor John Kuchta, this course introduces the history, theory, and practice of liberation theology and its relationship to land reform. Some additional information is here. The course meets every Friday (except November 23) thru December 7, in our classroom at 30 E Adams #1207. Instructor: Bob Jene. You can pre-register here, or just show up for the first class.

Thur Oct 4: Progress & Poverty classes start, choose afternoon or evening

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Administrator

“Material wealth; fear of loss” by “HikingArtist”Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvi, via flickr (cc)

This term we’ll have two Thursday sections of Progress & Poverty, one taught by Bob Jene at 2:30 PM and one at 6:00 with George Menninger.

Both of these are the modern version of the course, reading the modernized edition of the Progress & Poverty text (altho anyone who prefers the original unabridged text can easily use that).

The afternoon class is six sessions, thru November 8, while the evening class is a little more intense, five sessions ending November 1. There is a $25 registration fee, but you’re welcome to sample the entire first class session before deciding to pay it. You can pre-register here, or by phoning 312 450 2906. Walk-ins welcome.

Oct 2 Tuesday: Economic Science course begins

Posted on September 18, 2012 by BobJene

image credit: Blogging Dagger via flickr (cc)

One of America’s most famous men by the 1890s, Henry George had hoped to get his teachings adopted as part of the standard courses in colleges of the era. But his ideas were too threatening to the established order, so he undertook to write his own textbook, a comprehensive presentation of the fundamentals of political economy. The resulting book is the basis for this course (We use an abridged edition). More info about the course is here.

This advanced course meets Tuesdays at 6 PM thru December 4, and requires prior completion of Progress & Poverty.

You can pre-register here, or by phoning 312 450 2906.

Fall term schedule has been posted

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Administrator

The class schedule for our fall term is here (and is also linked from the tabs on the left side.) Fall events (which begin October 1) are being added as time and patience permit.

You can get a hardcopy schedule (and get on the list for future postal mailings) by calling Bob Jene at 312 450 2906, or by emailing him.

Wed Sept 12:Progress & Poverty course starts

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Administrator

Cartoon by “Hikingartist” Frits Ahlefeldt, via flickr (cc)

No, it’s not math and equations. We teach using observation, thought, and understanding of experiences you’ve probably already had. In his classic book Progress & Poverty, Henry George sought to understand why the economy’s increasing productivity has failed to significantly alleviate poverty. He was writing in 1877-79, when productivity came from steam, electricity, railroads and the telegraph, but the same problems appear in the 21st century with our more modern improvements in manufacturing, transport, communications, and marketing.

What Henry George found still applies very much today, with a few updates here and there, and his book is still the best introduction to why poverty persists, and would continue to persist even if we had honest governments. George holds that poverty won’t end until the people understand its cause, and you can take the first step by signing up for our Progress & Poverty course. Here’s the pre-registration form. If you have questions, call the School at 312 450 2906.

April 19: Corruption of Economics/History of Capital starts tonight!

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Administrator

This course investigates the systematic efforts of the economics profession to marginalize the ideas of Henry George — even at the cost of changing fundamental concepts of classical economics. Taught by Bob Jene, and based on important work by Mason Gaffney. This advanced course requires prior completion of Progress & Poverty. Starts tonight, April 19, at 6 PM. More information here.