Book Description
As one of the first titles in Atlantic Monthly Press’ “Books That Changed the World” series, America’s most provocative satirist, P. J. O’Rourke, reads Adam Smith’s revolutionary The Wealth of Nations so you don’t have to. Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes—including the blockbuster sixty-seven-page “digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries,” which, “to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu.” Although daunting, Smith’s tome is still essential to understanding such current hot-topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P. J. puts his trademark wit to good use, and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.
Customer Reviews:
A Waste of Time if You Want to Understand Adam Smith.......2007-10-02
I got this book because I wanted to read something on Smith, an author who is not, contrary to what is repeatedly said by other reviewers, difficult to read or superseded by later writers. What I quickly realized was that O'Rourke has no intention of seriously engaging with Smith at all and that the book might easily have been written without his having read the Wealth of Nations at all using a research assistant to pull out some quotes to sprinkle around. That he didn't read the book is the only explanation for the presence of so many gross errors in the book, such as when O'Rourke lumps labor unions together with chartered companies, etc. as a market distorting institution that Smith abhors; whereas, as any reader of the book knows, Adam Smith is quite explicit in his defense of collective bargaining for workers and condemns the laws of his day that impede workers' ability to organize. Whatever one thinks of these matters, Smith was clear as to his own view.
There is also a generally philistine and puerile element to O'Rourke's style and humour which I found extremely grating. If you are interested in work of Adam Smith, don't waste your time with this book. Just because O'Rourke didn't read the original doesn't mean you ought not to. So save your money and but a copy of the Wealth of Nations itself if you haven't read it already.
Recommend highly.......2007-09-02
P. J. O'Rourke makes Adam Smith's master work come alive with witty asides and modern examples to succinctly illustrate principles that Smith had expanded upon at daunting length. Everyone who thinks they might someday want to go into business, run for office, vote, or engage in intelligent conversation should read it, as should those who just want thought-provoking entertainment. The lengthy "dictionary" of quotations in the back is an added bonus.
A terrific guide to the ideas and writings of Adam Smith - with some jokes, too.......2007-08-13
Adam Smith has been written off my many people who find themselves too sophisticated for his 18th Century views. Each time, it is they who prove themselves and their ideas dispensable. Adam Smith continues to influence new generations of people trying to understand not only economics, but what Smith called Moral Sentiments. Was Smith a Prophet? Of course not. Did he get everything right? No. But there is more right there than you will likely find in a library full of most other writers on economics who think they know more than Smith.
However, there are many fundamental concepts that have become central to our understanding of how human beings interact and create wealth that some of us treat him with a kind of devotion and veneration. We probably overdo it. Still, like scripture, he is more often talked about than read. And that is why the wonderful humorist P.J. O'Rourke wrote this book. It is a short guide through Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" (a much shortened title).
O'Rourke also gives us a brief view of Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" and a very brief look at Smith's life and times. As O'Rourke quote William Kristol, most of us only read in Smith. It is just so long and dry and tied to his times, it takes a special reason to read every darn word. O'Rourke did so he could write this book.
While there is much to enjoy in the book, O'Rourke has created a dictionary of Smith's best sayings (lightly edited). He also provides a list of other readings and points you to the best editions of Smith's works.
This book isn't just a funny book that riffs on Smith. Yes, O'Rourke is great at making things funny, to the point you will laugh out loud. But his humor is most often insightful rather and it is a way of getting the reader to take in the point thinking he is getting dessert. I like this insight from page 62:
"A recurring lesson in "The Wealth of Nations" is that we shouldn't get greedy. And no people are as rapacious and grabby as those who work for the public good. They don't want mere millions or billions of dollars to satisfy personal avarice. They seek the trillions of dollars necessary to make life on earth better for everyone. The World Bank should content itself with private good, from which all good things flow"
Yeah, it isn't that funny. But it is concise and right with a nice bite.
Get it, read it and enjoy it. And, hey, you will probably learn something. Especially if you haven't read Smith (or even read much in his writings).
This was my O'Levels assignment!.......2007-07-25
This is the best book I have read so far this year. The author succeeds in presenting this heavy work in an entertaining and humorous way. I think anyone reading this book will be encouraged to read the Wealth of Nations and inquire more on Adam Smith, if they haven't already done so.
The Wealth of Nations, a book of free-market thinking and a book that shapes the world to this day, was first published in 1776, the year The United States of America gained its independence from Britain. The book was instantly recognized as being fundamental to an understanding of Economics. The original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes, which was considered long. It is a large volume because Adam Smith felt he was at the end of his life and he wanted to say all he could. In fact, The Wealth of Nations was orally dictated, significantly contributing to its length.
According to P.J. O'Rourke, to understand The Wealth of Nations, you also need to read Smith's first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. But now with On The Wealth of Nations, you don't need to read either, or so the book back cover claims. In fact, this book reads like a Cliff Notes, with laughter added.
Adam Smith only wrote three books, the third, on law, being left uncompleted.
P.J. Rourke shows us why Smith is still relevant today, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and how the division of labor, freedom of trade, absence of government interference (the famous two words, `invisible hand'), and pursuit of self-interest espoused by Smith are vital to the welfare of mankind. There is nothing inherently wrong with the pursuit of self-interest. That was Smith's best insight. Smith further gives suggestions on how governments should be run, and how various classes of men should behave. Smith illuminated the mystery of economics in one flash: "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production."
Far from being an avatar of capitalism, Smith was actually a moralist of liberty. O'Rourke says, "it's as if Smith, having proved that we can all have more money, then went on to prove that money doesn't buy happiness. And it doesn't. It rents it." (I just love this quote!)
I had to read Wealth of Nations for my O-Levels, and I got a B, the highest score in my class. I was hoping for an `A' actually, but I didn't have O'Rourke's book at the time.
Some interesting quotes from the book:
"Every tax, however, is to the person who pays it a badge, not of slavery, but of liberty. It denotes that he is subject to government, indeed, but that, as he has some property, he cannot himself be the property of a master."
"To improve land with profit requires an exact attention to small savings and small gains, of which a man born to a great fortune...is very seldom capable."
Never complain that the people in power are stupid. It is their best trait. In recent years we've seen a variety of powerful figures barter their authority for the gratification of childish vanities. Perhaps the Saudi royal family will be next to suffer the fate that Adam Smith described: "Having sold their birth-right, not like Esau for a mess of pottage in time of hunger and necessity, but in the wantonness of plenty, for trinkets and baubles, fitter to be the playthings of children than the serious pursuits of men, they became as insignificant as any substantial burgher or tradesman in a city.
In 1776, Britain was the most powerful country on earth. The reason for this, wrote Smith, was plain: "That security which the laws in Great Britain give to every man that he shall enjoy the fruits of his own labour, is alone sufficient to make any country flourish."
Military power depends on economic success. Economic success depends on freedom. "No regulation of commerce," Smith wrote, "can increase the quantity of industry in any society... It can only divert a part of it into a direction into which it might not otherwise have gone."
The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic. This empire, however, has hitherto existed in imagination only. It has hitherto been, not an empire, but the project of an empire; not a gold mine, but the project of a gold mine...It is surely now time that our rulers should either realize this golden dream, in which they have been indulging themselves, perhaps, as well as the people; or, that they should awake from it themselves, and endeavour to awaken the people. If the project cannot be completed, it ought to be given up...Great Britain should free herself from the expence of defending those provinces in time of war, and of supporting any part of their civil or military establishments in time of peace, and endeavour to accommodate her future views and designs to the real mediocrity of her circumstances."
"What institution of government could tend so much to promote the happiness of mankind as the general prevalence of wisdom and virtue? All government is but an imperfect remedy for the deficiency of these."
One reviewer on Amazon.com had the following to say:
"Socialism can work, but it requires people with the qualities of saints. The difference between O'Rourke's rant and the reality of earthly socialism was aptly seen by Leacock, who explained `socialism won't work except in Heaven, where they don't need it, or in Hell, where they already have it.' "
Adam Smith died on July 17, 1790, leaving us a book that is still shaping our way of thinking! His stoic attitude toward death, recorded in his Moral Sentiments, was as follows: "Walk forth without repining; without murmuring or complaining. Walk forth calm, contented, rejoicing, returning thanks to the Gods, who, from their infinite bounty, have opened the safe and quiet harbor of death, at all times ready to receive us from the stormy ocean of human life."
If you find The Wealth of Nations too long or too hard to read, then read P.J. O'Rourke's On The Wealth of Nations, and you will understand all the major concepts of Smith's book.
Interesting and VERY funny.......2007-07-12
I really, really enjoyed this Book on CD.....I think it made it much better than if I had just read the book. Listen to the jokes was really cool. Lots of very good information.
Book Description
This book could be called "The Intelligent Person's Guide to Economics." Like Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers, it attempts to explain the core ideas of the great economists, beginning with Adam Smith and ending with Joseph Schumpeter. In between are chapters on Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, the marginalists, John Maynard Keynes, Friedrich Hayek, and Thorstein Veblen. The title expresses Duncan Foley's belief that economics at its most abstract and interesting level is a speculative philosophical discourse, not a deductive or inductive science. Adam's fallacy is the attempt to separate the economic sphere of life, in which the pursuit of self-interest is led by the invisible hand of the market to a socially beneficial outcome, from the rest of social life, in which the pursuit of self-interest is morally problematic and has to be weighed against other ends.
Smith and his successors argued that the market and the division of labor that is fostered by it result in tremendous gains in productivity, which lead to a higher standard of living. Yet the market does not address the problem of distribution--that is, how is the gain in wealth to be divided among the classes and members of society? Nor does it address such problems as the long-run well-being of the planet.
Adam's Fallacy is beautifully written and contains interesting observations and insights on almost every page. It will engage the reader's thoughts and feelings on the deepest level.
Customer Reviews:
Economic Theory as Theology.......2007-09-07
This is a truly excellent book. As a long time student of the history of economic thought, this book, subtitled "A Guide to Economic Theology" offers a truly insightful perspective on Smith and other classical economists. It has always been my belief that there are a lot of people (some are pompous neo-cons) who quote Adam Smith and have never read him. The author quite effectively dismantles the argument inherent in "Adam's fallacy"; that is by acting in our own (avaricous)self interest, we are acting for the public good; that we must accept injustice in the present to allow for distributive justice over time. Markets for goods, services, and labor do not always produce efficient, let alone just outcomes.
The book should be required reading - not just in Economics Departments, but for elected officials as well. Three cheers for Duncan Foley!!
A very enjoyable reading.......2007-09-03
"Adam's Fallacy" is a very enjoyable reading for anyone interested in political economy; a refreshing view at the history of economic thought from a critical perspective and in an accessible fashion. The reader will appreciate Foley's wisdom in political economy and the care he takes in remaining unbiased, even when expressing the author's personal preferences.
4.5 Stars-Excellent book-Horrible Title.......2007-07-02
Foley is correct that "Modern" economic theory(Monetarism,Rational Expectations,Real Business Cycle theory,New Classical Economics, Efficient Market Hypothesis,etc.),which is based on the false claim that all markets can be modeled either as being normally distributed, or " as if " they were normally distributed,assumes stability and a natural self adjusting,self correcting invisible hand mechanism that,operating through the process of labor specialization,division of labor,extension of the market,and economic growth, transforms private greed into a social optimum.These theories model the economy as if it were inherently stable and subject only to exogenous shocks.They assume away the inherent ,internal,endogenous shocks created internally by both technical(capital goods) and financial innovation ,as well as the speculative shocks caused by speculators leveraging their bets with huge infusions of bank loans leading to the inevitable bubble and collapse.
Adam Smith did not make this error or commit "Adam's Fallacy".On pp.734-735 of the WN,1776,Modern Library (Cannan)edition,he makes it clear that the economic growth process of the Invisible Hand ,self interest,and the division of labor creates major undepletable,negative externalities(social,intellectual,martial,political,and moral) that impact practically the entire work force.The only way to counteract this is through government action.Foley needs to completely change the title to David's(Ricardo),Jeremy's(Bentham),and James'(Mills)Fallacy.
Compares favorably with Heilbronner's classic.......2007-02-05
I have recently read both Adam's Fallacy and R. Heilbronner's The Worldly Philosophers (as well as other introductions to economic thought). Adam's Fallacy compares favorably with Heilbronner in that it is a little less devoted to biographies of economists and a little more devoted to the content of their theories. Accordingly, it demands a little more effort from the reader. I didn't find it a quick or an easy read. Despite its title, it is a balanced approach to economics, giving Smith credit where due while attempting to provide "a critical and skeptical understanding of political economy." My advice is to read both Heilbronner's and Foley's books -- and not to stop there. The more you read on the topic of economics, the more nuanced your understanding will become.
Still looking for an unbiased history of economists.......2007-01-29
After reading the table of contents, I purchased this book, expecting it to be a dispassionate history of famous economists. By the middle of the text however, I came to realize that the author was embedding within his extensive knowledge of economic history his unabashed distaste of free market capitalism.
The premise of the book, (and of the title), is that the great fallacy of Adam Smith (and most other economists) is that they offer nothing to deal with the supposed immoral gap between the rich and poor. While R. Stone (above) addresses this point by pointing to the fact that Smith does in fact discuss this issue at length in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, I prefer to address it from a different direction. Foley's argument, focusing on the wide gap existing in capitalist societies between the rich and poor completely overlooks the absolute gains made by all under free market societies, versus their socialist counterparts. Paraphrasing the great Thomas Sowell, economics is not a system of morals, but rather a means by which scarce resource which have alternate uses are rationed most efficiently.
Chapter three most clearly shows the author's bias, in his glowing description of socialism, which in the end only euphemistically discusses the political difficulties in administering such a society. Page 204 is perhaps the best example of this bias:
"Furthermore, the Soviet Union did indeed manage to organize an impressive spurt of economic development, extension of the division of labor, and growth of productive capacity through its central planning mechanisms for what turned out to be a period of sixty years".
Nowhere in the text did Foley describe the now infamous rotting food in villages neighboring areas of starvation in the USSR. He does not mention the dominant theory among respected economists that the surplus value created by a capitalist society, and unevenly distributed to a certain class is what creates the incentives for goods (like food) to be distributed to the populace. Above all else, he does not ever mention the abject human rights violations ubiquitous in socialist regimes such as China under Mao, Cuba, USSR, etc. Granted, these abuses of power are not part of the system of socialism, but it is interesting nonetheless that they so often occur in societies which embrace their tenants.
Chapter five's description of Keynes was most interesting, in my opinion, for the strong weight Foley gave to his assertion that Say's Law is wrong, thereby destroying the theories of free trade, and opening the door to protectionist tariffs. What was notably missing from this discussion, however, were stats on the falling unemployment rates for *both* the US and Mexico in the years after Clinton signed NAFTA, or the continuously dropping unemployment rates, and job creation in recent years, during extensive outsourcing.
Nor does Foley treat the Great Depression with any objectivity. After describing the horrible conditions the US and world were facing in the thirties, and shortly thereafter, he states "To contemporary observers, laissez-faire policy seemed to be inadequate to cope with the problems of advanced industrial capitalism". What Foley fails to mention here is that FDR had a horribly anti-free market policy during the depression, which many economists now believe exacerbated matters, ie, setting price floors, which helped small farms at the expense of consumers who could no longer afford to buy food.
To his credit, however, Foley does end his book with a good joke: "On the whole, historically the best results seem to come from modest, and limited efforts to build institutions such as central banks, social security ...". It seems as though the best compliment Foley can come up with for capitalist societies is Social Security, a system which, under current operation, is scheduled to be completely bankrupt in thirty or forty years.
Book Description
No book has done more to instruct, enlighten, and inform conservatives about economics than Adam Smith's undisputed classic.
Download Description
The first truly scientific argument for the principles of political economy.
Customer Reviews:
a classic.......2007-07-20
It's a big book, but not in any way complicated. In a nutshell, it details the mechanisms by which personal liberty -- accompanied by personal responsibility and a just system of government -- make nations, and the individuals who live in them, wealthy. I had a Marxist professor who did not like Adam Smith because Marxist theory prefers to emphasize class warfare, while Smith is saying that everyone is capable of providing for themselves and the less the government interferes, the better off we all are. Many conservatives, meanwhile, like Adam Smith because they seem to perceive a "survival of the fittest" philosophy in his works. They are both wrong.
Really, The Wealth of Nations ought to be read along with Smith's other classic, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Together, the message in them is that government should leave people alone as much as possible, but people ought to exercise that liberty without greed.
hard to find a serviceable edition.......2007-07-07
"The Wealth of Nations" is more readable than you probably think, and if you actually sit down to it you'll be repeatedly astounded by Smith's shrewdness.
But parts of Smith's original can be tough going in many ways. Why don't publishers acknowledge this by coming out with something more helpful than just the raw text?
Unfortunately, finding an edition that will be of great use to you is problematic. That's why I'm giving this book 1 star: not for the text itself, but rather for the paucity of well-done printings out there.
Anyhow. I have three before me:
1. The "Modern Library Classics" edition, the one you see on this page. This is complete and unabridged in a single volume, and has a handsome, sturdy feel to it. There is a 4-page introduction and a well-done index, but what irks about this edition is that while it has a plethora of footnotes, all the footnotes are of the "textual comparison" variety (e.g., "12 Car. II., C. 32"), rather than the kind that really help you understand antiquated terms and convoluted wordings. In other words, you'll get no help from the editors here.
2. Then there is the barren Wealth of Nations (Great Minds Series). There is a 2-page introduction at the beginning and an index, but beyond that it's nothing more than the original text, complete with the original punctuation and spellings (neither of which has been made more merciful for the modern reader).
3. The Penguin Classics edition, in two volumes: The Wealth of Nations: Books 1-3 (Penguin Classics) and The Wealth of Nations, Books IV-V (Penguin Classics). This is probably the least worst edition I have seen, with a superb introduction (nearly 100 pages long), and a glossary, all done by Glasgow's Andrew Skinner. But the only footnotes in the text itself are apparently Smith's own. They appear directly on the bottom of the page in question.
So good luck, whichever one you choose.
In case you need to know, Smith's original consists of five long chapters, or "books."
If anybody has a more respectable edition at hand, please comment and I'll incorporate it into this review.
Free trade and pro biz.......2007-01-25
Great study material - very difficult read, but a must read that should be taught in high school.
Buy this if you support free trade, less government, and the American dream. Beware, this books represents everything a liberal opposes, ideals which are deeply hated by those who support liberal gods like Barak Hussein Obama and Miss H. Rodham.
Must have........2007-01-03
They shouldn't let you out of school unless you have this one in your head. Nice to have a copy around.
Readable introduction to economic theory.......2006-06-15
For anyone coming to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations the first surprise is how readable it is. Famous classic of economic theory though it may be, this is no dry academic tome to be read only by people with a scholarly interest in economic history. There are no detailed tables of statistics of the sort one might expect to find in a modern book on the subject, and no mathematical analysis, indeed not very much quantitative information at all. Instead there is a long series of examples to explain such ideas as why it is more efficient to divide work among several specialists rather than have a complete task fulfilled by one person, or why slave labour is ultimately more expensive than paying free workers, even workers in cities like Boston or New York, where wages were far higher in Smith's time than those in his native Scotland.
To illustrate the principle of the division of labour Smith discusses the manufacture of nails. Even a blacksmith -- skilled in working with a hammer but with no special training in nail making -- could not make more than a few hundred nails in a day, and those of poor quality. A specialist nail maker could make more than two thousand, but much greater improvements, both in quality and quantity, come from recognizing that even a task as apparently simple as manufacturing a nail can be broken up into smaller tasks: maintaining the fire at the right temperature, hammering the nail into the right shape, using a different tool to form the head, and so on.
A popular edition of Wealth of Nations is inevitably abridged, as one can hardly expect to buy a complete scholarly edition for a price not much more than that of a novel. Complete editions are available as well, but they are much more expensive. With sensible editing, however, an abridged version can include as much of Smith's writing as the ordinary reader is likely to want, together with notes to explain points that will be obscure to the modern reader. In the Oxford World's Classics edition Kathryn Sutherland has made an excellent job of this, with notes that fill around a fifth of the length of the book.
Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1786 edition published in London.
Customer Reviews:
basis of the economic principal thought and exercise.......2007-08-06
In order to understand any economic study as a whole,one should read these volumes to excecute decision making flawnessly by knowing exactely the morel consequences and economic effects this may have on those involved by it for the well being of all.
Therefore,one can not look or exercise the difficult art of business decision making in the future without knowing the historical past of the
economic foundations on which the modern art of guiding any type of decision making is based.
Christiaan Winkel
Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1786 edition published in London.
Average customer rating:
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An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations (Great books of the Western World, v. 39)
Adam Smith
Manufacturer: Encyclopædia Britannica
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Book Description
1909. Political economy had been studied long before Adam Smith, but the Wealth of Nations may be said to constitute it for the first time as a separate science. The work was based upon a vast historical knowledge, and its principles were worked out with remarkable sanity as well as ingenuity, and skillfully illuminated by apt illustrations. In spite of more than a century of speculation, criticism, and the amassing of new facts and fresh experience, the work still stands at the best all-round statement and defense of some of the fundamental principles of the science of economics. Contents: Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Power of Labor and of the Order According to Which its Produce is Naturally Distributed Among the Different Ranks of the People. Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock. Of the Different Progress of Opulence in Different Nations. Of Systems of Political Economy. Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth.
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