Participating in the economy is a part of everyday life, yet much of what is commonly accepted as economic fact is wrong. The media have filled the world with politically correct errors that professor Murphy sets straight and explains hot topics like outsourcing and zoning restrictions.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism
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''A disciple of economic guru Martin Friedman, Murphy has never met a millionaire he didn't like and is happy to tell you so, using Richards as his silver-tongued messenger.'' --AudioFile
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
From the Inside Flap
Most commonly accepted economic "facts" are wrong Here's the unvarnished, politically incorrect truth. The liberal media and propagandists masquerading as educators have filled the world--and deformed public policy--with politically correct errors about capitalism and economics in general. In The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Capitalism, myth-busting professor Robert P. Murphy, a scholar and frequent speaker at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, cuts through all their nonsense, shattering liberal myths and fashionable socialist cliches to set the record straight. Murphy starts with a basic explanation of what capitalism really is, and then dives fearlessly into hot topics like:
* Outsourcing (why it's good for Americans) and zoning restrictions (why they're not)
* Why central planning has never worked and never will
* How prices operate in a free market (and why socialist schemes like rent control always backfire)
* How labor unions actually hurt workers more than they help them
* Why increasing the minimum wage is always a bad idea
* Why the free market is the best guard against racism
* How capitalism will save the environment--and why Communist countries were the most polluted on earth
* Raising taxes: why it is never "responsible"
* Why no genuine advocate for the downtrodden could endorse the dehumanizing Welfare State
* The single biggest myth underlying the public's support for government regulation of business
* Antitrust suits: usually filed by firms that lose in free competition
* How tariffs and other restrictions "protect" privileged workers but make other Americans poorer
* The IMF and World Bank: why they don't help poor countries
* Plus: Are you a capitalist pig? Take the quiz and find out! Breezy, witty, but always clear, precise, and elegantly reasoned, The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Capitalism is a solid and entertaining guide to free market economics. With his twelve-step plan for understanding the free market, Murphy shows why conservatives should resist attempts to socialize America and fight spiritedly for the free market.
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89 of 98 people found the following review helpful
By Zeldock
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Regnery Publishing bills its "Politically Incorrect Guides" (or PIGs) as the place to find "politically correct myths busted and an abundance of cold, hard facts." Robert P. Murphy certainly charges head-first against a lot of politically correct myths in "The PIG to Capitalism." He also provides many cold, hard facts, along with many arguably correct theories that deserve to be more widely known.
As a myth-buster, Murphy does not try to lead the reader gently toward a better-informed point of view. Instead, he starts throwing punches from page one. Windfall-profit taxes, pro-union laws, affirmative action, workplace-safety and antipollution regulations, Social Security -- these are among the sacred projects of left-liberalism that Murphy attacks, by explaining how free-market capitalism would do a better job of accomplishing what too many Americans think can be done only through government intervention.
If I were writing this book, my emphases would be different -- I'd devote more space to how prices (including wages) are emergent phenomena and to the concepts of economic efficiency and non-zero-sum interaction, and I'd spend less time (if any) on the history of slavery or explaining the difference between the monetarist and Austrian versions of what caused the Great Depression. But I agree with 95% of what Murphy says here.
If you have the time to take a deeper look at some of the issues Murphy touches on here, I highly recommend Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy and John Steele Gordon's Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (P.S.). Murphy also provides suggestions for further reading throughout the book, many of which were new to me.
If your time is limited and you want to get a concentrated dose of what left-liberals deride as "free-market fundamentalism" (but what I consider plain good sense), "The PIG to Capitalism" is a great place to start.
As a myth-buster, Murphy does not try to lead the reader gently toward a better-informed point of view. Instead, he starts throwing punches from page one. Windfall-profit taxes, pro-union laws, affirmative action, workplace-safety and antipollution regulations, Social Security -- these are among the sacred projects of left-liberalism that Murphy attacks, by explaining how free-market capitalism would do a better job of accomplishing what too many Americans think can be done only through government intervention.
If I were writing this book, my emphases would be different -- I'd devote more space to how prices (including wages) are emergent phenomena and to the concepts of economic efficiency and non-zero-sum interaction, and I'd spend less time (if any) on the history of slavery or explaining the difference between the monetarist and Austrian versions of what caused the Great Depression. But I agree with 95% of what Murphy says here.
If you have the time to take a deeper look at some of the issues Murphy touches on here, I highly recommend Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy and John Steele Gordon's Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (P.S.). Murphy also provides suggestions for further reading throughout the book, many of which were new to me.
If your time is limited and you want to get a concentrated dose of what left-liberals deride as "free-market fundamentalism" (but what I consider plain good sense), "The PIG to Capitalism" is a great place to start.
82 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Is there anywhere in the world a more maligned, distorted, scapegoated, vilified, or simply misunderstood concept than that of the free market? It has done so much (certainly more than any and all governments) to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, promote the arts, sciences, and industry, prevent conflict, and build community. And yet, it is constantly under attack, blamed for the very ills it's best equipped to solve, and even many of its "defenders" think it needs to be hemmed in with a thick fence of regulation and taxation.
Part of the problem, of course, is that the free market is so complex. As Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn noted in "Leftism Revisited," a clear, simple -- and deadly -- idea like Marxism "can be explained to the merest child in a matter of minutes. (Conversely, to explain the workings of the free market economy to an adult would take weeks of hard work.)"
I'm sure Bob Murphy put in more than "weeks of hard work" to prepare this guide. As an "Austrian" economist, he is perfectly suited to write a book like this for a general audience. Apart from being right on the theory, Austrians are far less likely than members of other schools to get the reader lost in a maze of graphs, charts, and the minutia of comparative statistics. Instead, this is a powerful, lucid, and very readable book that, while concentrating on the fundamentals, will give any reader -- up to and including "dyed in the wool conservative" Republicans -- much to think about. But beware of exploding myths!
So much of the "Politically Incorrect Guide" series is devoted to an energetic goring of sacred cows, and "The P.I.G. to Capitalism" is no exception. A huge amount of what we take as revealed truth about how an economy functions, and the role of the government in "keeping the economy going," is revealed as so much propaganda. Certainly, it will take more than 200 pages to really convince people that "trade deficits" are meaningless, that outsourcing is good for workers, that the Depression wasn't a "market failure," among the many counterintuitive arguments the author presents here. But few books, in my experience, have done as good a job at laying out the essential arguments and pointing the way to further study.
It's a shame this book (and indeed this entire series) should be needed as badly as it is. But for the open-minded and thoughtful reader, or the defender of capitalism looking to shore up her argumentation, Bob Murphy's "Guide" is an entertaining read, a useful evangelical tool, and a reference worth keeping around.
Part of the problem, of course, is that the free market is so complex. As Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn noted in "Leftism Revisited," a clear, simple -- and deadly -- idea like Marxism "can be explained to the merest child in a matter of minutes. (Conversely, to explain the workings of the free market economy to an adult would take weeks of hard work.)"
I'm sure Bob Murphy put in more than "weeks of hard work" to prepare this guide. As an "Austrian" economist, he is perfectly suited to write a book like this for a general audience. Apart from being right on the theory, Austrians are far less likely than members of other schools to get the reader lost in a maze of graphs, charts, and the minutia of comparative statistics. Instead, this is a powerful, lucid, and very readable book that, while concentrating on the fundamentals, will give any reader -- up to and including "dyed in the wool conservative" Republicans -- much to think about. But beware of exploding myths!
So much of the "Politically Incorrect Guide" series is devoted to an energetic goring of sacred cows, and "The P.I.G. to Capitalism" is no exception. A huge amount of what we take as revealed truth about how an economy functions, and the role of the government in "keeping the economy going," is revealed as so much propaganda. Certainly, it will take more than 200 pages to really convince people that "trade deficits" are meaningless, that outsourcing is good for workers, that the Depression wasn't a "market failure," among the many counterintuitive arguments the author presents here. But few books, in my experience, have done as good a job at laying out the essential arguments and pointing the way to further study.
It's a shame this book (and indeed this entire series) should be needed as badly as it is. But for the open-minded and thoughtful reader, or the defender of capitalism looking to shore up her argumentation, Bob Murphy's "Guide" is an entertaining read, a useful evangelical tool, and a reference worth keeping around.
51 of 57 people found the following review helpful
By Walter Block
Format:Paperback
This is a magnificent introduction to free market economics, the last best hope for civilization. This is a modernization, and in many ways an improvement over, Henry Hazlitt's justly famous, but now somewhat out dated book, Economics in One Lesson (1946). Ditto for my own far less famous and less worthy book Defending the Undefendable (1976). Speaking as an old coot of the free enterprise movement, I am delighted that this baton is now being passed on to very able young people such as Bob Murphy.
Walter Block
Walter Block
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Capitalism
I wanted to understand Capitalism. I have read the P.I.G.'s guide to Socialism and wanted to have a understanding of both sides of argument.
Published 2 months ago by BravoBilly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent overview
I bought the audiobook version of this. This is an excellent overview of capitalism. Murphy is spot on with this. Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. John
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book for Capitalists and Economists and those who think they...
The whole series is great and more information that most would get in school, both High school and college. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Blaine
5.0 out of 5 stars
I can dig it.
I was hoping for something entertaining and informative, and this (audio)book did not let me down. Probably not for everyone due to the historical nature of it, but certainly... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Fomorian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Basic overview of free-market economics
Robert Murphy gives us a "bullet points" overview of free-market economics in this book of 182 pages in length. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Efrem Sepulveda
4.0 out of 5 stars
Space Program Was Responsible for Much of Our Modern Economy
This book represents a good overview of the libertarian economic philosophy, and generally pro-free market arguments, however it makes a few oversimplifications I think in a few... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Kyle
1.0 out of 5 stars
what?
where did they dig this guy up from? is he a stooge for the romney campaign or ? this book is full of rightwing assertions, half truths and out right lies! shame, just shameful. Read more
Published 11 months ago by J. kim Engle
5.0 out of 5 stars
PIG books generally excellent
I've generally found the PIG books to be very good, but where they fail is when they touch on the clash of science and religion. Read more
Published 17 months ago by John D. Pryce
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's a conspiracy!
I just thought it might be worth noting that Regnery Publishing also produces a book called "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism," by a different author, published 4... Read more
Published 19 months ago by yankee2
5.0 out of 5 stars
books
Should be mandatory in high school. The current curriculum ignores such simple truths and promotes an imaginary version of history.
Published 19 months ago by asiaviper
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