Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand's Ideas Can End Big Government [Hardcover]

Yaron Brook (Author), Don Watkins (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 18, 2012

A look at how our current crises are caused by too much government, and how Ayn Rand's bold defense of free markets can help us change course.


The rise of the Tea Party and the 2010 election results revealed that tens of millions of Americans are alarmed by Big Government, but skeptical that anything can or will be done to stop the growth of the state. In Free Market Revolution, the keepers of Ayn Rand's legacy argue that the answer lies in her pioneering philosophy of capitalism and self-interest -a philosophy that more and more people are turning to for answers. In the past few years, Rand's works have surged to new peaks of popularity, as politicians like Paul Ryan, media figures like John Stossel, and businessmen like John Mackey routinely name her as one of their chief influences. Here, Brook and Watkins explain how her ideas can solve a host of political and economic ills, including the debt crisis, inflation, overregulation, and the swelling welfare state. And most important, they show how Rand's philosophy can enable defenders of the free market to seize the moral high ground in the fight to limit government. This is a fresh and urgent look at the ideas of one of the most controversial figures in modern history - ideas that may prove the only hope for the future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A joy to read. Even as it merges hefty philosophical arguments, detailed discussions of key economic concepts, and numerous historical examples, its light and breezy prose enables quick reading…Free Market Revolution could not have come at a better time.”--The Objective Standard

“Free Market Revolution will raise the ire of every statist, socialist and crony capitalist.  Rand understood – as do the authors of this all-too-timely book – that free markets are, indeed, moral while Big Government is manifestly not.”—Steve Forbes

“A powerful and unapologetic case in support of capitalism. For those who think more government will solve our nation’s problems, Free Market Revolution will open your eyes. For those who can already see the light, it will sharpen your vision.”--Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, Inc., host of the Peter Schiff Show on www.SchiffRadio.com, and author of The Real Crash: America’s Coming Bankruptcy—How to Save Yourself and Your Country

"Free Market Revolution is must-reading for an age in which the government seems to be treating Atlas Shrugged not as a warning, but as a how-to manual."--Glenn Reynolds,

“Free Market Revolution is a potential game-changer. Brook and Watkins dismantle the myth that free markets are responsible for today’s ills, and they teach us how to take the moral high ground in the fight against Big Government. If there are any Occupiers left, this book should make them lay down their signs in surrender. Anyone who wants to understand why we have strayed so far from the Founders’ ideals, and how we can find our way back, should read this book.”--Mallory Factor, Founder, Mallory Factor, Inc., and Professor of International Politics at The Citadel

 

“This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the demonization of capitalism and deification of collectivism. Yaron Brook and Don Watkins meld philosophy with practicality in their cogent analysis of how Ayn Rand’s moral defense of capitalism can bring down the limitless growth of government and restore its original, intended purpose—protection of individual rights. Changing the trajectory of the country calls for a long and intense fight with very steep odds against victory. But the concept of the Free Market Revolution, celebrating the individual pursuit of rational, long-term self interest as a virtue, provides the arsenal for the assault. And Brook and Watkins give a battle plan of surefire approaches to limit, and then eliminate, even such massive incursions as the government’s takeover of healthcare.”--Jim M. Kilts, Former CEO of Gillette Company

 

“The most important issue in our society today is the morality of capitalism. Free Market Revolution lays bare how capitalism is the only economic system consistent with man’s nature as a thinking being who must act in his long term rational self-interest to survive and prosper. This is an important book which integrates philosophical ideas with their real world consequences.”--John A. Allison, Retired Chairman & CEO, BB&T Corporation

 

“Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government is very welcomed indeed. With clarity and courage Brook and Watkins present?the basic teachings of free market economics, and place them within the?context of Ayn Rand’s broader moral-philosophic system. As the problems?with government intervention into the free market become more and more?evident to larger segments of the population, Ayn Rand’s writing, especially her epic Atlas Shrugged, takes on a new life for a new generation.”--Peter J. Boettke, Professor of Economics, George Mason University

About the Author

Yaron Brook is Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, and CNN.com, and appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, The Glenn Beck Show, On the Money, and Closing Bell, among others. A former finance professor at Santa Clara University, he is the co-writer with Don Watkins of a column on business and capitalism at Forbes.com

 

Don Watkins is a fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute and the co-writer with Yaron Brook of a column on business and capitalism at Forbes.com. He appears regularly on radio and TV, and his op-eds have appeared in such venues as Investor's Business Daily, The Christian Science Monitor, FoxNews.com, and Forbes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 18, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230341691
• ISBN-13: 978-0230341692
• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 6.5 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical to Our Survival as a Nation September 22, 2012

By Edwin A. Locke

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the single most important non-fiction book defending capitalism ever written--more important tham Smith, Friedman, Von Mises or the like. The reason is that unlike other books purporting to defend capitalism this book presents an uncompromised moral defense based on self-interest and the profit motive. It shows that self-interest guided by reason is morally good and that capitalism cannot be defended morally without self-interest as its moral base. (Even Adam Smith defended self-interest based on collectivism--the good of society rather than individual rights). The book shows that the out-of-contol growth of government is based on the view that businessmen are viewed as "greedy" and the people are "needy" and therefore have the moral right to condemn business and have all their needs satisfied by government (which means: by their neighbors). The authors show that the creed of altruism (self-sacrifice) rather than being moral is immoral and destructive. Another virtue of this book is that it defends real (laissez-faire) capitalism, not a self-destructive mixed economy. Finally, the book shows specific steps that need to be taken to change our system from a mixed economy to a free (laissez-faire) economy. By giving capitalism a proper moral defense, this book demolishes every attempt by conservatives to "defend" capitalism and and shows the way to attain true freedom and prosperity. This book, if taken seriously, can save us from economic suicide and usher in a new period of growth and propsperity.

77 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shows the connection between morality and politics September 18, 2012

By Jack Crawford

Format:Hardcover

I studied economics and political science in the 1960's but I learned more about the relationship between them from this book than I did during 4 years of undergrad work. This book explains how Ayn Rand's morality of selfishness is necessary to direct our political actions toward having an economy of Capitalism. At the same time it shows how altruism, being your brother's keeper, will and necessarily must send us down the road to destruction by sacrificing all the good things we have. Not just material things, but productivity, happiness, justice and self-esteem. Selfishness here is not criminal activity, nor mean spiritedness, nor even lack of generosity. See Ayn Rand's book,Atlas Shrugged for her fictional portrayal of selfishness as a new morality, derived from the facts of reality.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom . . . what it really means. September 20, 2012

By Patrick M Kelly Esquire

Format:Hardcover

"In a free economy, where no man or group of men can use physical coercion against anyone, economic power can be achieved only by voluntary means: by the voluntary choice and agreement of all those who participate in the process of production and trade." With these words Ayn Rand demonstrated to me the profound difference between the power of an industrialist in a free market and the power of a bureaucrat wielding the arbitrary whim of law. When I was initially exposed to her ideas in 'The Virtue of Selfishness,' I knew the moment I started reading the first essay that I had in my hands something truly revolutionary. A light had switched on.

Many individuals make the mistake of staking claim to a political side, left or right, based on shallow criteria. They want to fit into a particular clique or be thought of as a particular type of person so they select their politics accordingly. Essentially, the mistake is in ignoring the other branches of philosophy such as epistemology and ethics on which a proper politics should be based. In this volume, Yaron Brook and Don Watkins do a splendidly brilliant job of demonstrating the difference between economic power and political power. So many arguments for government action are knee-jerk in nature; "That's bad. There aught to be a law!" This book not only explains clearly how government works and why it grows, but also that when it grows it grows more unethical or even corrupt.

The moral case for free markets is an open and shut case. Political freedom walks hand in hand with economic freedom and intellectual freedom. These principles are acutely denoted in this book in a writing style that is informative, clear, and easy to comprehend. Here is provided the necessary philosophical underpinnings of rational self-interest that shine a bright light on exactly why free markets enable man to reach ever higher strata of success, ability, and happiness. For those seeking a deeper or more profound understanding of politics and economics, I can think of no better place to start than 'Free Market Revolution.'