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The Economics Of Freedom What Your Professors Won't Tell You (2010)

by Frédéric Bastiat(Favorite Author)

4.19 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0898031699 (ISBN13: 9780898031690)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Students for Liberty

review 1: I wound up torn on this book. The first half or so, the part that actually consisted of Bastiat's writing, was engaging and fun to read, if a little awkwardly translated at parts. I felt that he relied a little too strongly on straw men and reductio ad absurdum, but I'll take the foreword's advice and chalk it up to historical difference. Overall, it was a fun read for someone who tends to disagree the libertarian position more often than not. The second half or so, however, I found drearily dull, as it seemed to fall back on the old libertarian theory completely disconnected from practice. According to it, evidently, power relations are nonexistent under proper market systems, and their mere existence indicates that by definition it is not a proper free market. Uh-huh... ... moreright. Only in the author's dreams does an employee enter into an employment contract with an employer with the exact same power as the employer, even under a so-called free-market system. It's a shame that it devolved in the second half because I would have really appreciated it if it had included some more of Bastiat's writings, or even some practical implementations of libertarian thought for modern social problems, since they do have some interesting ideas that if implemented creatively could solve vexing issues of our day. While I do enjoy dabbling in theory, it needs to connect to the real world at some point, and I really would have appreciated more of that in the second half. That half took what would have been a thoroughly enjoyable read and made it into a forgettable slog.
review 2: I cannot recommend this collection of essays highly enough. For over 160 years now a battle of ideas (and sometimes, more than ideas) has been raging between competing political, social, and economic philosophies. While you have no doubt heard of the likes of Karl Marx, it's not as likely that you have heard of the likes of Frédéric Bastiat. Both were publishing their ideas at roughly the same time, but their views were light years apart. First, if you haven't done so already, read "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels and "The Law" by Bastiat (they are both short reads), and then come back for this collection. Then, keep at it. less

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