Customer Reviews

The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very creative, and downright brilliant book. It very palatably presents free market economic theory in a sweet, engaging, and endearing tale.

Were I a high school teacher or a college instructor teaching an entry level economics course this would be a book that I would definitely require -- it outlines fundamental economic concepts in a practically fashion easily understood by the "lay" person. Additionally, it presents a perspective that those left of center (such as myself) are compelled to respect, even if they are philosophically not in agreement.

Besides its educational merits, this is simply a touching novel that keeps you committed, and makes you feel warm and satisfied finishing it. A reader completed devoid of any interest in economics whatsoever would find this an interesting and worthwhile read (and end up better educated despite himself).

Wow, what a fun book, but eerily reminiscent of my own life.

My first thought was that the author modeled the main character on me -- but then I realized that my experiences are pretty much identical to those of all other economists. For example, the main character has discussions on economics at a dinner party and at a TV viewing party -- discussions which I have had almost down to the exact same words. I've met all those people, had all those conversations, and experienced all those frustrations.

From the very first chapter, I saw things that I intend to incorporate into my own classroom starting immediately. I anticipate walking into the first day of class, pulling out a dollar bill, and .... well, you can read it for yourself. Or perhaps talking about the room filled with nuts, and asking my students how long it will take to eat them all. Roberts gave a lot of great little techniques to liven up an economics classroom.

Also, with this book, Russell Roberts has practically cornered an entire literary genre: economic fiction. Unlike the Marshall Jevons books of economic fiction (which are horribly written), Roberts has written a book which is both compelling as an economic work and delightful as a romance.

Roberts shows that he is both an interesting economics teacher and a skillful fiction writer. I hope that he writes more books like this ... and that perhaps he inspires other economists to follow this path. Economics has never been more accessible to the average person than in this breezy romance.

This is not a book which will change the mind of a dedicated collectivist. Nor is it likely to fully satisfy the Club for Growth crowd. It is a simple love story which will appeal immensely to the non-idealogue while explaining in plain language the undeniable economic realities which guide human behavior. Were I to follow my dream and teach a high school civics class, this would certainly be on my required reading list.

It's every economist's nightmare. Being forced, at a party or a diner, to discuss economic policy with non-economists. Surrounded by bright intellectuals - lawyers, artists, scientists - the economist has made the error of taking off his (or hers) political correct mask. He has digressed upon his views on society. Having too much to drink, he explained why minimum wages harms unskilled workers, why electricity companies should be privatized, or (god forbids) why `globalization' is a good thing. Whatever the topic, nobody understood. Everybody has turned against the him. How can someone be so right wing, so inhumane, so myopic?

A passionate economist is seldom appreciated. The main character of The Invisible Heart learned that the hard way. Sam Gordon teaches economics at a high school in Washington, and is an economist who would make Milton Friedman look a liberal sissy. Gordon believes passionately in the market mechanism, and abhors government intervention, and just can't shut up about this.

The problem is that Sam is in love. The object of his love is an English teacher named Laura Silver. But he is definitely no Don Juan. Sam tries to woo Laura by relentlessly discussing economics. He understands he has a problem. "It would be a good idea to talk about something else than economics", Sam sighs after one of his semi-successful attempts to lure Laura. "But what could it possibly be?" This book is not the first attempt to take boring economic theory and bake it into crusty and tasty fiction. Other economists have tried to sell economics by writing it into a detective story or a thriller. Writing a love-story about economics is without doubt the boldest attempt. And the most successful. O.K. the pages aren't filled with sizzling sex and pulverizing passion, so an experienced reader of the genre may be a bit disappointed. But the upside is that the conversations (quarrels would perhaps be a better word) really are about something. Sam's provocative assertions about the free market and interventions of government are both convincing and intriguing. The author, Russell Robert did the impossible. He wrote a crystal clear, and very readable book about hardcore economics, that keeps you reading until the final page. A must for every frustrated economist. And perhaps even more so for the other 99.9 percent of humanity that thinks that economics is a weird and dangerous science.

This book was brilliant. I bought it before going on vacation and I couldn't put it down. It is a very fast read (maybe 2 or 3 hours total reading time) and taught me about 15 economic lessons that are incredibly valuable. I find myself quoting the lessons of the book constantly.

Perhaps the most valuable element of the book is that the author cleverly uses the characters to argue both sides of each economic argument. You not only learn the "right" answer, but you learn the holes in the most common arguments that are advanced by those that don't subscribe to more "free market" thinking. This should be required reading for anyone involved in business or economics.

Note that the book will be very interesting even to those marginally interested in economics as the love story is exceptionally well written and thought provoking.

This book is good. It does two things, each of which is difficult, and almost impossible in combination--explain economic concepts and policy in clear language and tell an compelling love story with a couple of interacting plots, with an interesting surprise at the end. If you are interested in economics but would like to get it with something more exciting than supply and demand curves, read this book.

If you've ever wondered how otherwise decent people can believe that free markets and private property promote human flourishing, you should read this book. It uses a love story to present the case that a free society is a good society. So if you worry about globalization, homelessness and corporate profiteering, but find economics boring, try this book.

With THE INVISIBLE HEART, Russell Roberts proves himself to be among the small handful of young economists who excel at communicating sound economic ideas to a broad audience. Communication talent of the sort possessed by Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams is too rare - and getting rarer as economic instruction becomes increasingly abstract. But Roberts proves that not all economists under the age of 50 are incapable of bringing economics to life for a wide audience.

Roberts is truly a master at teaching the economic way of thinking - and teaching it in ways that almost anyone will find engaging and compelling.

As with his superb first book, THE CHOICE, Roberts here uses the dialogue to convey economic insights. But unlike that first book, THE INVISIBLE HEART touches on an impressively wide array of subjects (rather than just international trade). The reader learns solid reasons to be skeptical of today's shrieking environmental alarmists - solid reasons to question the effectiveness of government welfare programs - solid reasons for applauding, rather than condemning, corporations who set up factories paying market wages in third-world countries - indeed, solid reasons for even non-economists to think like economists.

Most importantly, the reader learns that good economists are the very last people to believe that money is all that matters. Russell Roberts is unequaled in his ability to show that free markets generate not only impressive coordination and efficiency and material bounty, but also an unprecedented profusion of humane results. The market's invisible hand works side by side with its equally robust invisible heart.

This book is an excellent introduction to economics and, more generally, to the philosophy of freedom.

Dr. Roberts handles issues like globalization, government regulation and the power of self-interest in a very entertaining and insightful manner. Throughout The Invisible Heart I found myself saying out loud "He gets it -- he gets it." As an entrepreneur, I've had to defend my employee compensation arrangements -- not to my employees but to well-intentioned, yet ignorant do-gooders who attempt to brand me as one who exploits others with my methods (I pay my workers on output (per piece) not on input (per hour). I've said to these people, "ask my employees if they feel exploited. I have 20 people on a waiting list wanting to work for me." For some reason these people never take me up on my offer. Hmmm.

These uninitiated would do well to read Dr. Roberts book. Roberts takes a number of esoteric issues and brings them to life. This is a must read for anyone who thought economics was boring.

The Invisible Heart ia an enjoyable book to read. You care about the charcters. Sam is an experienced, strong-willed economics teacher at the exclusive Edwards School. Laura is a young, idealistic, new English teacher at the same school. As Laura and Sam talk, they clearly demonstrate two very different ways of looking at the world. Sam sees the world through the eyes of an economist with an emphasis on incentives and results. Laura views the world in terms of feelings and intentions. Can people with such different points of view find love and happiness together? He is hard headed if not hard hearted. She is soft hearted and concerned for the less fortunate. Yet, in the end, we find that Sam is no less idealistic than Laura. He is willing to risk his job, perhaps his career, for his beliefs.

Intertwined with the love story of the developing relationship between Laura and Sam is the story of Charles Krauss, a corrupt and probably criminal business executive, and the attempt of Erica Baldwin, an ambitious civil servant, to bring him to justice. Will she succeed in protecting the public? Or, will it turn out that Krauss, evil though he may be, promotes the public interest better than she merely by seeking his own self-interest?

How will the two stories come together? There is plenty of suspense and intrigue to hold the readers' attention. You are eager to learn what will happen next. The characters are well developed, and the conflicts seem real. The Invisible Heart manages to be at the same time both a tender love story and an exciting book.