Economic Insanity [Hardcover]

Roger Terry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 188105232X | ISBN-13: 978-1881052326 | Publication Date: January 1, 1995 | Edition: 1st

This provocative proposal exposes the misconceptions that drive our economic system and offers systematic and revolutionary solutions. Economic Insanity questions the most basic assumptions behind our economic system and argues that its entire structure must be challenged. Terry challenges readers to stop looking for answers within the system and look instead to changing the system.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

"roger terry has written an extremely important book. it is a comprehensive attempt to define america's malaise and, more importantly, to offer a practical road to the future. terry is talking about all the right things. neither political party, nor any of the mainstream economists, have probed the economic realm terry is exploring. he has obviously thought long and deeply about the american condition and bold solutions."

From the Back Cover

In Economic Insanity, Terry questions, and suggests we abandon, four fundamental pillars of capitalism: endless economic growth, ever-increasing productivity, accelerating technological advances, and self-interest. He shows how these basic assumptions that drive our version of the free-market system are causing a host of interrelated and deeply entrenched problems. He explores critical social dilemmas that result from our current economic assumptions, including the loss of personal freedom and democracy, the perpetual and unavoidable increase in inequality, and the disuniting of America. If we are to turn our nation from this path of folly, Terry argues, we must first abandon the faulty assumptions that drive our thinking. Incorporating ideas from Adam Smith and Thomas Paine to Paul Johnson and Herman Daly, Economic Insanity challenges readers to stop looking for answers within the system and look instead to changing the system.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 92 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188105232X
• ISBN-13: 978-1881052326
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Economics for a Small Planet, October 10, 2001

By 

Robert Schick (Garland, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Economic Insanity (Hardcover)

Roger Terry's book "Economic Insanity" is nothing less than an expose of our vaunted economic system. Terry concisely dissects the underlying assumptions, the inherent contradictions that are embedded in the foundation upon which we have erected our economic house of cards.

Not only do most of the underlying assumptions betray the intent of our Founding Fathers, but also, in the concept of endless growth, flies in the face of nature's reality.
Basic morality sits on the sidelines, as the active players of greed, shortsightedness, and sheer ignorance play the economic game on the world's field, which if played out to its logical conclusion, can only eventuate in Terry's warning about society: "We are a society, we claim to be civilized, and we must either unite and thrive or splinter, decline, and die as a society."

There is warning enough in Terry's splendid and courageously frank exposition. The question is: Do we have time enough to make the necessary repairs?

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars interesting and well written, January 5, 2010

By 

D. Montano (Mena, Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Economic Insanity (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book and am saving it as a reference. The author is able to explain complex subjects in easy to understand language. Such as, Where does profit come from? How is capitalism different from communism? What about the national debt?

The author offers a solution to the problems created by our current economic system, but I don't think significant change can be implemented in time to save us.