Liked it, did not love it. Lots of promise, lots of good details, but not quite what I was hoping for. Here is my review: http://libertyunbound.com/nodeLiked it, did not love it. Lots of promise, lots of good details, but not quite what I was hoping for. Here is my review: http://libertyunbound.com/node/1476
Liked it, did not love it. Lots of promise, lots of good details, but not quite what I was hoping for. Here is my review: http://libertyunbound.com/node/1476
2024-09-08 I just finished this little book (86pp + additional sections on "Further Reading," "Participants of inaugural meeting," a list of all the m2024-09-08 I just finished this little book (86pp + additional sections on "Further Reading," "Participants of inaugural meeting," a list of all the meetings, locations & dates (up to publication), Presidents, Secretaries and treasurers of the Society, as well as all the members who won a Nobel Prize.
Eamon Butler is a very good and lucid writer. Quite objective and diplomatic, without going overboard and watering down some very real conflicts.
This account of the Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) was very well done, fits all my observations over the last almost 50 years or so, and is a great summary of what the MPS is all about. He even noted what "Pelerin" means, which was the first time I had seen that! Kudos to him....more
2024-08-27 I read the title essay and some other essays in another edition of this book, published by Caxton Press, in the mid 1970s, my Junior or Sr.2024-08-27 I read the title essay and some other essays in another edition of this book, published by Caxton Press, in the mid 1970s, my Junior or Sr. year of college for a government class. I gave a talk on the author, Wm. Graham Sumner, based on this book and a little extra biographical reading. I really liked the author and his ideas and was very sorry that they have not been more popular. They need to be for a better world.
I do note however that a book came out not too long ago by the journalist/researcher Amity Shlaes with the same title as this book, using the main theme of this book, but applying it to the New Deal of FDR. Perfect! I believe the book sold well, but was not a huge hit. Too bad.
The theme of the book is simple: The Forgotten Man is the one who gets left out of the decision to tax him/her for some scheme of the "majority" to implement/pay for. It is a basic flaw/drawback of democratic government, like the statement that two wolves and a sheep vote on what to have for dinner - majority wins. US American President James Madison's phrase was "tyranny of the majority." All of these are right on the money. But for some reason, today's Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) thinks it is just hunky dory to tax "the rich" more and more and more....more
2024-07-17 Just finished this today. Excellent. Love the message - Africa needs to rediscover and reimplement it's roots in free enterprise to allow al2024-07-17 Just finished this today. Excellent. Love the message - Africa needs to rediscover and reimplement it's roots in free enterprise to allow all the individuals and countries in the continent to become rich.
Beautiful recounting of a brave and tenacious young African woman's journey of discovery and mission to help her fellow humans.
Grounded in the enlightening historical account of many African countries, but primarily Senegal, where she was born and feels is home. Ms. Wade's entrepreneurial, personal, and righteous experiences are joyous, gut-wrenching, fascinating, and very hopeful.
Though I am not as happy with the ending chapter or two, I devoured this book and think the messages is so timely and important that I highly recommend it.
I read this book in conjunction with my participation in a beloved PPPS (Potato Peel Pie Society) reading group, inspired by the movie and book. Most in the group really liked the book too, but some of the comments and actions of the members kind of took me aback. I'm still trying to figure that out. So neat for me to see the author Magatte Wade given the Julian Simon Award this year by the Competitive Enterprise Institute....more
2024-03-28 I finished the book last week and have been mulling it over and trying to get through all the highlights and notes I took (a great number f2024-03-28 I finished the book last week and have been mulling it over and trying to get through all the highlights and notes I took (a great number for such a short book.
Let me just list a few things I remember and liked and disliked: Liked: - Emphasis on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and their focus on providing value to consumers/customers. Their explanations of these concepts are top-notch and well placed. - Historical examples of some great businesses and entrepreneurs who really created huge value for their customers: Wedgewood China co., Sears Roebuck & Co, Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co., Singer Sewing Machine Co., etc. - Some good references to Ludwig Mises and other Austrian economists, as well as some other management theorists such as Peter Drucker were very positively done.
Did not like - or at least am unsure of: - Milton Friedman's theory of Shareholder value as the ONLY legitimate value for corp. managers - In some respects, I agree, that this is far too narrow, takes the focus away from customers and creates a short-term focus for management, at the expense of the opposites. But in other respects, it is crucial for Owners to be able to hold management to one standard - long-term profit and loss. All other criteria are too squishy and can be manipulated by management at the expense of shareholders/owners... and the customers. - Financialization - the Authors biased their impugning of this concept with only talking about short-term incentives. They totally ignored the fantastic and very real examples of the long-term focus of investors and management on customer service at such firms as Amazon and Genentech - bucking the author's critique. - Surprisingly the authors gave little account for how government regulations and policies screws up management focus on customers and eliminates huge value creation for customers. They were of course good in listing government regs as a negative, but they put it very low on their list of problems that caused the "Aberrant" nature of Capitalism these days. - The authors also seemed incredibly naive about the positive promises of the digital revolution and high tech solutions for the "Aberrant" problems, with VERY few actual examples to help encourage the reader to believe them. As someone who lived and worked in Silicon Valley from 1995-2021 at several "digital revolution" companies (Verisign, E-Trade and others) and worked with and watched the promise of the digital revolution quite carefully, I can tell you there are as many or more problems with how people are dealing with it in terms of screwing up the basic positive values of capitalism and customer focus, as there are positives. I am very sad to report!
2024-03-18 started book a few days ago, soon after I watched a webinar discussion of the book with the two authors, a moderator and commenter. It was pretty good and dealt with issues I have been concerned about for almost 50 years, so I bought and started the book. It is only about 90 pages long, so should not take that much to finish.
The beginning of the book was not all that clear or compelling. But it then started to get very interesting in talking about the beginnings of capitalism and the industrial revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The references mostly fit my readings, but there were some new observations to me - some that make sense and a few I doubt.
2024-03-18 Just finished this morning. What a great little book! Highly recommended for those who: - would like to get some clear and often humorous th2024-03-18 Just finished this morning. What a great little book! Highly recommended for those who: - would like to get some clear and often humorous thinking and writing about subjects such as: The Law, Justice, Government, Violence, Plunder, Trade, Socialism, economics, morality, etc. etc.
- might be amazed and pleased to read an author who explained problems and solutions for society >170 years ago, but which is just as readable and applicable today, as it was then
- would enjoy reading a short book of essays by probably the greatest economic essayist ever
The other 4 essays in the book (besides "The Law" noted below) are:
"That which is seen, and that which is not seen" (60pp) - This chapter motivated and guided Henry Hazlitt in his writing of his best selling book: "Economics in One Lesson."
"The Candlemakers Petition" (4pp) - so cool - dealing with the unfairest competitor of all.
"A Negative Railroad" (4pp) - some ideas/policies are so foolish, it takes a Bastiat to call them out.
"Government" (15pp) - simple rules for what government is/isn't and consequently what it can/can't do and should/should not try to do.
Enjoy.
2024-01-07 Started reading this book today. Wonderful collection of essays by Bastiat that starts out with his most famous work: "The Law" (64 pp.). I've read this essay (which has been published as a short book by several organizations) several times over the past 45 years or so, but not for a quite a while. I believe I have read all the other essays included too, but also not for quite a while. It is very neat to be getting back to this classic statement on such important topics as: What is the Law? A Fatal Tendency of Mankind Plunder - the crucial concept, and just how common and pernicious legal plunder is. How to Identify Legal Plunder - many names Slavery and Tariffs are Plunder Proper function of the Law Fraternity - voluntary vs. forced etc. While the writers, examples and a few of the ideas referred to in the book may not be current, the main ideas are as real, current and imposing on us today as the day Bastiat wrote this essay in 1850. I'm looking forward to savoring (again) the rest of The Law and all the other essays in this short - 156pp book, which include: "That which is seen, and that which is not seen." "The Candlemakers Petition." "A Negative Railroad." "Government"
Hope you have a chance to enjoy and profit from this book too. Our country and the world need so many more people who have read, understand and communicate the ideas in this book very much, to be able to live in a world governed by peace, prosperity, human thriving and justice.
One of the reasons I am reading this book of essays I have previously read by Bastiat is that I am: - the co-director of The Mont Hamilton/Bastiat Society of San Jose area - the co-founder/director of the Bastiat Society of Northern Michigan and - advisor to the organizer of the planned Bastiat Society of Boston area For more information on The Bastiat Society, just do an internet search and you will find plenty of information on it at the website of the organization AIER. Or feel free to message me....more
2023-12-30 I want to read this book so much, if only to partially solve this wonder:
I'll bet that it has no small part to play in the little marvel I 2023-12-30 I want to read this book so much, if only to partially solve this wonder:
I'll bet that it has no small part to play in the little marvel I notice most every day, or at least every time I go to the grocery store:
How I can buy a 16-20 oz container of blueberries for under $6 or 7 and sometimes far less - most any time of the year.
How is it possible for all the people involved to be paid well enough to be willing and able to do their part in making that happen?
It seems utterly amazing to me that this delicate, perishable, nutritious, delectable treat can be grown, harvested and shipped from Argentina, Chile, Peru or wherever to a dinky town in northern Michigan (or most anywhere in the US) for such a nominal price. HOW in the world is that possible?...more
2024-03-18 I finished this book about two weeks ago, a couple weeks after our book group discussed it. I was mad that I could not finish before the di2024-03-18 I finished this book about two weeks ago, a couple weeks after our book group discussed it. I was mad that I could not finish before the discussion, since I was really getting into the book, and wanted the full experience of having it all read before the discussion. But the discussion did help me see the need to finish the book.
The book's subtitle: "How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous" is a topic that I have spent many years reading and thinking about, discussing and even writing book reviews and e-mails on. The multi-disciplined nature of this book: economics, history, and primarily psychology was of interest too, since the first two I have read and studied much of, but the last, not so much.
I hope this review has the parts I highlighted attached below, since there are many and they could be useful.
Generally, I thought the book was a net-positive, since it highlighted some important factually history.
One of the points was brought up in the Prelude, then discussed in more detail several other places in the book: the spread of literacy throughout the world was quite clearly due to the Protestant Reformation, or at least so closely follows the spread of Protestantism throughout the world, that other explanations seem dubious.
Another point highlighted and emphasized in the book was the remarkable enrichment of the world - vastly increasing human population and per capita wealth - due to the Industrial Revolution, and capitalist and other (he focuses on one) institutional policy/norm in particular
That this Harvard professor has written a best selling book that highlights just these points is a real positive to me, in this age of wacky anti-industrial, anti-human policy preferences of environmentalism, wokism, post-modernism, etc.
If I can make time to review my extensive notes from reading the book, I will add more....more
20023-11-08 I finished this last week. Hoping to pull my notes/highlights together soon to write a decent review.
2023-10-26 Started this about a week 20023-11-08 I finished this last week. Hoping to pull my notes/highlights together soon to write a decent review.
2023-10-26 Started this about a week ago - very captivating. The author is a very good writer. The subject is of great interest to me, since I followed the progress of the microprocessor firms, their products and the overall market pretty closely in publications ranging from: PC Magazine, "InfoWorld" "PC News, to Forbes, ASAP, Wall St. Journal and others from the early 80s till the early 2000s. PLUS, I actually lived in Silicon Valley (San Jose) from 1995-2021, and worked and interacted with a fair number of high-tech firms (some chip designers included) and friends and associates during most of that time.
The author has so far done a great job on many of the topics, explaining them quite clearly, despite some of them being pretty technical and/or controversial.
However, some of the topics, as well at the title and major theme of the book is a very big problem.
The use of the term "war" as an analogy to real war, where people are shot, blown-up, taken hostage, captured, maimed, etc. for business practices, is a very bad one. It leads people to misconstrue what is really going on and blurs the very real lines of difference. Sure, it may sell extra books... but is that a good-enough reason? Not in my value system.
Since I am only about 2/3 through the book, I plan to come back to add more to this review when I do finish, and then have time to sort through my notes and highlights, of which I have already made very many. Just this morning, I started "sharing" some of my notes/highlights on Goodreads, so perhaps you have seen some already....more
2023-10-13 Just bought this and am greatly looking forward to reading. I have known the author for quite a few years and seen several presentations of 2023-10-13 Just bought this and am greatly looking forward to reading. I have known the author for quite a few years and seen several presentations of his on the topic of this book. Those presentations were very solid and a book length treatment seems like a great idea.
The opening statements of the book, comparing the # of banking crises in Scotland vs. Britain and Canada vs. the US where the first countries in each comparison pursued a relatively free market in banking, vs. the highly regulated 2nd country was super revealing.
I'll bet you should check out this book to if: - you are concerned about prices climbing to crazy levels - you want to know about bank and business cycles - and if they can be stopped, or at least curtailed - you suspect government policies might have something to do with banking problems - you don't like subsidizing big banks - you would like to see unemployment/bankruptcies moderated - etc....more
2023-10-11 I just finished the first story "Ragged Dick" a couple days ago - a rereading for a book club discussion coming up in a few days. Loved it.2023-10-11 I just finished the first story "Ragged Dick" a couple days ago - a rereading for a book club discussion coming up in a few days. Loved it. A few years ago I had first listened to the book and liked it so much I listened 3-4x! See my review on Goodreads of a different (pb?) edition., since there is no Librivox audio edition listed. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I bought this Kindle book a few days ago so that I would have the actual text, instead of just listening (which I did again anyway on a little car journey a few days ago also.) I chose this edition, since it was cheap and had 10 (out of 70!) of the famous author's top stories - very handy and thrifty.
Wonderful book - highly recommended. Great values promoted in this story: honesty, hard work, perseverance, good humor, charity, respectability, importance of a good education, saving, good habits, self-discipline, positive attitude, good friends and friendship, etc. Luck is acknowledged as helping, but capitalizing on it, and not relying on it, is shown to be the key.
(Reminds me of the quote of a famous attorney in Chicago when asked about his luck in winning trials and becoming generally successful: (paraphrasing from memory - "I somehow seemed to gain more luck in my career the more hours I spent in the law library compared to the golf course.)
Great historical insights on survival (without government welfare mentioned at all). Note the prices for goods/services in the book and compare them to today! Note how easy it is to get a good education at very reasonable cost.
I do see some typos and other glitches in this edition, but they are quite minor, for such a low cost edition, that provides so much value.
2023-Oct - The 2nd story "Fame and Fortune" shows how corrosive and negative envy and an entitled attitude can be to all. This story was a nice continuation of the main characters in Ragged Dick, with more added and nicely varying plot, action and conflicts.
These stories are 160 years old, from when society was VASTLY materially poorer! Think of the possibilities for today, with the same values, and present wealth levels!
We need many more books like this, written about modern situations, issues and settings.
2023 Nov - 3rd story - "Mark the Match Boy" - another good one, with another poor street boy profession highlighted - selling matches. Good reinforcement of positive values and fighting difficulties in circumstances, bad influences, bad values, etc. The economics of the business is quite instructive for the time and in a timeless way too. Wonderful.
2023-12-5? - 4th story - "Rough and Ready" - Rufus' nickname is well deserved - a bit rough around the edges, but basically very, very good, and super dedicated to his little sister and always ready for opportunities to help her, his customers/employers and himself. The benefits of honesty and hard work/dedication to what is right and good, vs. idleness, envy, sloth, vindictiveness, etc. Great lessons. Neat story, as usual. No one is perfect, which is what life is really like. But some people are so down to earth, basically good, that you can really count on them. And facts matter. And good questions to actually reveal fact from fiction is important. Crucial.
2023-12-07 Just finished the 5th story within this book: "Ben, The Luggage Boy" - another wonderfully uplifting story. This one is about Ben, who left home at the age of 10 due to his wanting to be independent of his father, who had wronged him. He finds out how difficult earning one's way in the world can be for someone that young, but survives. He also learns about the importance of doing more than just surviving day-to-day, and some really important things in life. The basic math skills exhibited in all the stories is great. Even though most of the "heroes" of the stories - the young boys - have had very little formal education, they all seem to understand basic math, and regularly calculate earnings/day (or partial day) and whether it is more profitable to do one thing or the other, how much time is needed to work for meals, or a room, or a cigar or a Bowery show.
2023-12-11 6th story - "Rufus and Rose" - Returning to Rufus (Rough and Ready) and his sister Rose, the continued saga, where the thoroughly nasty "step-father," James Martin, returns to wreck havoc, and he gets nastier and more dangerous with the aid of even more sinister conmen, but Rufus is up to the challenge. The problems of overdrinking or smoking are demonstrated well, so moderation or abstention benefits are made pretty clear.
2023-12-11 7th story - "Tattered Tom, or the Story of a Street Arab" - Well, well - this is the story of a young street girl, with only a mean and worthless "granny" to help her survive. She would rather be a boy, so acts similarly to the boys, and can take on any of them, if they are near her size, if she needs to. I loved her attitude, grit, "pluck" and turns of expression. And so does the ship's captain who has come back to the city to see his sister. He takes a liking to this plucky little gal with the boy's nickname (Did you know the expression Tomboy dates back to at least the 1870s?) and sets her up in a seemingly decent situation, vastly better than she endured with "granny." But things don't go as planned and granny reappears for some pretty tense and hopeless situations. But Tom is up to the trying situations, and never gives up, but rather somehow always makes lemonade out of the lemons she is served.
One little quirk was that at one point the captain's sister called Tom by the name Tom said may have been her real name: Jenny. But then later in the book, without any explanation, all of a sudden she is being called Jane. I dunno what happened.
2023-12-18 8th story (only 3 more to go!) "Paul the Peddler" - has a mother and brother, but their husband/father was killed a year or two before the story begins, so Paul (and his family) had a better beginning than most of the other stories' "heroes", but they are living in much tougher straits than they did previously, and he, at only 14 or 15 is the main breadwinner. His "peddling" is his own invention, and it is kind of mini-lottery. But since it does well, and he's honest, he attracts tough (and dishonest) competition, that makes life very difficult.
Side Comment: One of the extra neat things about these Horatio Alger stories is that honest competition is shown to be natural and lauded, and dishonest competition is shown to be semi-rare and bad for everyone - including the perps of course.
Things get sorted out in all the stories with mostly private actions and a minimal amount of government police/courts action, kept to just the basics of justice. No government "regulators" are involved at all, except just one (so far) that stifles honest trade with prohibitively expensive licenses/taxes.
Such a simple, reasonable and accurate description, yet how many books, movies, high school and college classes, TV shows, political speeches or laws have it all backwards these days?
The story continued by plowing some new as well as reinforcing some existing fertile ground. Entrepreneurial thinking, economic calculations, financing a new business and the importance of trust, friendship, high morals and fast, decisive actions. Reputations and the different profit levels/needs of varying businesses (pawn shops vs. big name jewelers in particular), which included hints on discovering fair vs. foul dealing, were all very valuable to this reader, and probably most anyone who reads the story
However, there were several little, somewhat unbelievable, lapses too, which made it less real and much more reliant on luck as a key device.
2023-12-24 The 9th story "Phil the Fidler" - Filippo, the young Italian immigrant was "sold" by his poor father in Italy to a "Padrone" who treats him and the other boys he has "bought" like a slave. They are all forced to work for their living on the streets of NY, fiddling for hand-outs, provided little to eat and required to turn over all their money to the Padrone, to repay the money he gave to their fathers (but not to them). Very tough life. One of Phil's friends dies of exposure, sickness and the resulting ill-treatment. But Phil succeeds by his wits, perseverance, strong character and some luck, of course, though he had his ill-luck too and close-calls, but persevered. Kindness and open-hearts by a couple who were also gravely treated by fate was another warm and fuzzy aspect to the story. Another excellent story.
2023-12-26 The 10th & last story in this book: "Slow and Sure: THE [continuing] STORY OF PAUL HOFFMAN THE YOUNG STREET-MERCHANT. Excellent ending story to this wonderful volume. Paul's rise is by no means a sure thing, but his strong work ethic, seizing of opportunities when they present themselves, attention to his family and friends and even strangers all help him along. Remembering his humble beginnings and treating others with kindness pays off in more than just feeling good about himself. The plucky and dirt poor character Julius is introduced to very good effect. He and Paul both benefit from dealing straight with each other.
2023-12-30 Just received a GREAT compliment on my review and what I think about this book from a dear and very learned friend: "This [book] is what I need to read to [her granddaughter] when she’s a little older!" WOW!!!! YES, indeed. It is going on my list for my reading to our grandkids, if/when we ever have any....more
2023-07-04 Finished this yesterday. Really good, but pretty narrowly focused on the theory of prison order and the factors that promote or disrupt orde2023-07-04 Finished this yesterday. Really good, but pretty narrowly focused on the theory of prison order and the factors that promote or disrupt order in prisons, with a few comments at the end on how this relates to the non-prison world.
So, if you are into this topic, the book is highly recommended.
The author is a very good writer, very clear, very compelling and fair/objective.
Impressive work.
I liked the author's first book: The Social Order of the Underworld better, since it was more broad-based and appropriate for laymen. This book demonstrates the incredible expertise of Skarbek and the general applicability of his theory on governance. Adds depth and breadth to his ideas in The Social Order of the Underworld....more
2023-05-27 Since this is such a short book, I love author and the topic fascinates me, I just read the book again. It is chock-a-block full of histori2023-05-27 Since this is such a short book, I love author and the topic fascinates me, I just read the book again. It is chock-a-block full of historical and timeless insights. Although the book will be of most interest to and understandable by economists, and in particular those trained in the Austrian School of thought, it could be profitably read by any intelligent individual.
Just one example to illustrate my point- the concluding short paragraph, which seems incredibly important and prophetic to me, especially given what we have just gone through with the Covid mandates, censorship, and revelations of prevarications about those policies and their effectiveness in controlling "the virus."
"Governments, political parties, pressure groups, and the bureaucrats of the educational hierarchy think they can avoid the inevitable consequences of unsuitable measures by boycotting and silencing the independent economists. But truth persists and works, even if nobody is left to utter it."
2023-05-25 I have read this little book a couple times, but neither in a long time. First time I think was in college or shortly afterwards in the mid-late 70s. Next time was probably about ten-20 years later.
It is an excellent little book by one of the greatest members of this school of economic thought. It is not a physical school, but rather a group thinkers, professors, writers etc. who are connected by their similar methodological and general focus in economics.
The term "Austrian school" was given to the original group as a pejorative by a competing economic/historical group from Germany. The Germans were trying to belittle the Austrians, since they felt superior, though of course their ideas/methodology was vastly inferior, unless one thinks that promoting war and poverty for the masses is a good/superior thing.
Mises, the author, was in the 2nd, or 2.5) generation of Austrian economists, which started with Carl Menger's "Principles of Economics" published in 1871, which revolutionized all of economics with it's subjective marginal theory of value. This idea supplanted the very unhelpful labor theory of value which all the classical economists held (Adam Smith, David Riccardo, Rev. Malthus, Bentham, Say, etc.) and Marx did so much to exploit and drive pernicious thinking about economics in the world.
Mises' teacher Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's expanded on Menger's brilliance in many areas, not the least of which were critiques of Marx's economics and expanding a more clear understanding of Interest.
Mises goes into these points and more in this nifty little book.
2023-04-24 I read this book between 1989 and 1993. I remember it being a very good book on this mythic topic. I say mythic, since the topic is one of 2023-04-24 I read this book between 1989 and 1993. I remember it being a very good book on this mythic topic. I say mythic, since the topic is one of typically painted pejorative against the industrial revolution and capitalism. But the thing is, the book goes into the details of the lives of children before, during and after the industrial revolution (IR) and shows how it helped children vastly more than it hurt them.
The number one help of course is that the increased production, opportunities and wealth that the IR made possible allowed for a HUGE decrease in the infant mortality rate - kids were living, when previously they were dying.
The other thing is that kids were working before the IR too. They were not idle and playing, as the critics of capitalism and IR let their readers think. Kids before the IR were expected to work just as hard or harder, because there was less wealth and less opportunities in society.
This book should be read by anyone who cares about the historical truth, what should be done about injustices, and what government policies can make situations worse or better....more
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