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Title: The Joy of Freedom: An Economist's Odyssey by David R. Henderson ISBN: 0-13-062112-9 Publisher: Financial Times Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 24 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Like Atlas Shrugged
Comment: The Joy of Freedom is like Atlas Shrugged in that reading both books ignites a passion for liberty in me. Henderson, like Rand, is a zealous advocate of freedom. The difference between the two books and their authors, however, is that Rand tends to be combative whereas Henderson tends to deliver a pleasant message.
Henderson tells of his intellectual journey as a free-market economist and libertarian. Along the way he applies the principles of freedom and free-market economics to the vital issues of the past, present, and future. "This book", he writes, "is about freedom, about how well freedom works and how government, by crushing freedom, messes up our lives."
Henderson didn't take economics until his final year of college. His evaluation of introductory economics: "The course was a profound disappointment." The text and the lectures did not raise questions that were interesting to him about how markets work. The model of "perfect competition" turned him off, as it does many students. Fortunately, Henderson attended lectures by economist Harold Demsetz who did explain how markets work, which rekindled Henderson's interest in economics.
What sort of questions does Henderson find interesting? In 1969 he asked Hubert Humphrey: "Then how do you reconcile your belief in the Thirteenth Amendment [prohibiting slavery] with your belief in the draft?" Henderson devotes an entire chapter to property rights and emphasizes their efficacy throughout. He poses the following scenario: "You walk by a yard and see someone painting a house. Pointing a gun at him is another man who orders the first man to stop painting." Then he asks: "Who is in the right?" Henderson might alter your view of the world. Consider this way of thinking about taxes: "Imagine that a thief takes your money at gunpoint, uses your money to buy a steak, and then brings the steak to your house and gives it to you." His question is: "Would you say that he didn't steal from you?" He even dares to ask: "Should we have taxes at all?" He raises the question of why the standard of living in the U.S. rises despite the shortcomings of government schools. About schools, he also asks: "If you went to a government school, or if your children go to a government school, is 'exciting' the first adjective, or even the fifth adjective, you would use to describe the experience?" Concerning the environment, he asks: "How far could we go in the direction of using private property to solve environmental problems?"
A reader of this book can expect to encounter many thought-provoking points as well as serious contributions to policies on social security, health care, education, and the environment.
Rating: 5
Summary: excellent....
Comment: This book doesn't receive enough credit...it's incredible.I've read a lot of free market books and if you want to give a book to someone and convince them of the power of free markets I would say this is the one.Mr. Henderson is quite a teacher and it shows.I can almost guarantee that if you are against capitalism and free markets this book would make you doubt the validity of anything otherwise....it's that good.I've read human action,capitalism by reisman...and rothbard and rand books,,,all are great but this one can convince the average joe who really doesn't care about politics and policy making in a disarming fun way.Great writing...and simple.Next I would recommend Rothbard...For A New Liberty... and economics in one lesson,by hazlitt.
Rating: 5
Summary: More relevant than ever.
Comment: Henderson is one of the few economists who can cogently communicate the "Joy of Freedom" passionately to an audience new to the magic of markets without getting sidetracked. Too often, when one reads introductory economics texts they cast the science as boring, impassionate, and overly analytical. Most other introductory books I've read begin by prematurely stating that economists must be value neutral and going on to immediately talking about supply, demand, elasticity, and trying to use a graph of supply and demand with an extra line and some shading to convince new, reluctant minds that policies such as price controls and the minimum wage are inefficient. This runs in sharp contrast to the introductory texts of other sciences, such as sociology and psychology, which openly begin with sometimes corny lines about the relevance of their thoughts and feelings to society. Although I believe that the authors in these other sciences often lack a solid background in critical thought and data analysis, they generally are more effective in getting new people to think about their fields.
Henderson is the welcome and notable exception that tactfully extends the "invisible hand" to readers who might hold very biased prejudices against economics and economists to guide them to a whole new world of thought and analysis. Through a collection of personal experiences backed by a reasonable and digestible amount of economics in each chapter, he is effective in his goal of doing what most economists cannot -- explaining the most relevant aspects of economics to the most important audience. Ultimately the effectiveness of the highlighting the implications of public policy for the lives of common people is more influental in changing the world than any article in the American Economic Review. While adding to existing knowledge is vital, attracting new thinkers and altering the biased beliefs of the Median Voter is at least equally as important.
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Title: The Economic Way of Thinking (10th Edition) by Paul Heyne, Peter J. Boettke, David L. Prychitko ISBN: 0130608106 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 15 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $93.00 |
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Title: Who's Afraid of Adam Smith? How the Market Got Its Soul by Peter J. Dougherty ISBN: 0471184772 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 16 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression by Jim Powell ISBN: 0761501657 Publisher: Crown Forum Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: Economics for Real People: An Introduction to the Austrian School by Gene Callahan ISBN: 0945466358 Publisher: Ludwig Von Mises Inst Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Health Politics and Policy by Theodor J., Ph.D. Litman, Leonard S. Robins ISBN: 0827367767 Publisher: Delmar Learning Pub. Date: 28 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $81.95 |
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